Locks And Keys
by Veevyca
Summary: Raizo has been on the run from the ruthless Ozunu for 7 years, managing to stay a step ahead from a sure death. An encounter with fate shakes his boundaries.. Mika Coretti is the new Europol forensic researcher, she stumbles upon a case that could lead to drastic consequences and a blood bath. Unknowingly it also hold the key to one man's brutal past. The man she's falling for...
1. Chapter 1

AN. This NA fanfic is different from my first one Heart On Fire. It goes in a slightly different direction. It's going to be in line with the present events that happened in the movie but I've added my own and removed some for the fic creativity. Hope you enjoy my 2nd offering.

"To hide the key to your heart is to risk forgetting where you placed it."

Timothy Childers.

Mika Coretti's deep slumber was cut by the piercing sound of her mobile phone ringing on the bedside. She tried to ignore but the more she tried to mentally block the sound the more it was penetrating her sleepy haze. Giving up, she groaned and blindly reached for the device. She opened one eye and saw her sister's number flashing on the screen

"Leona, what the hell?" she said in an irritated voice to her sister who was on the other end of the line.

"A little cranky this morning, aren't we?" Leona replied with a chuckle.

"It's four freaking am in the morning! Nine hours difference, remember?" Mika grumbled.

"Oh, sorry honey, you hadn't called yet, I was getting a little worried" Leona retained her elderly sister voice.

"I was going to call, I'm still settling in, I spend the better part of yesterday pushing furniture and by the time I decided to relax I just fell asleep" Mika explained.

"Hmm, so how's the loft, do you have a romantic view?" Leona chuckled again

"Well, its part of metropolitan Berlin so there's not much to see, count for a few trees and grass. But I like it; its cosy and just my type of place. I'll take some pictures once I finish putting everything in order"

"I'll be waiting, so, any hot neighbours you might want to borrow that cup of sugar from in the future"

"Leona!" Mika giggled despite her disorientation.

"What, early morning lesson in candy men" Leona laughed on the other hand.

"No, I haven't met anyone yet, I'll let you know when the big bang happens, the flash of realization and time suspense" Mika said sarcastically.

"Ok, I have to put the kids to bed now Mimi, I'll talk to you later"

"Thanks, give them my love" Mika said fondly thinking of her niece and nephew.

"We're already missing you; we'll visit soon once I get some days off work. Europe sounds like a nice place to be"

"I miss you too guys" Mika said with a little more emotion.

"Take care of yourself, bye" Leona said and after a while they both hung up. Mika looked at the time and felt a little happy that she still had more time left to sleep. She snuggled back into the covers and soon drifted into a deep sleep.

Being given a chance to come and work for Europol as their Forensic Researcher was a dream come true for Mika. Not only did it mean she was meeting new challenges but also the fact that she was moving places. She had always wanted to tour Europe at some point in her life and get to see places and now that opportunity had just been offered to her. She was so excited about starting over in a new place, meeting new people and even trying out new things. She hoped that Berlin would be kind to her.

Forensic researching was something Mika took at heart. She loved spending endless hours in the archives and library poring over records, files, disks in search of knowledge, in search of the truth. Her outstanding achievements with the LAPD had earned her recognition from the FBI Behavioural Analysis Unit in Quantico and in no time she was working cases for them. Although she had been asked numerous times to join the field force Mika had declined. She didn't think she could stand the horrors that sometimes came with it, the constant adrenaline rush and the real thing was not an easy job. It was after working on a case that the FBI and Europol had formed an alliance; to nail down a mobster that Mika got her invitation to work for Europol. She knew she had no problems fitting in because she was fluent in most European languages. Leona had always teased that she was a "know it all" much to Mika's embarrassment.

Growing up with an abusive father hadn't been easy for both sisters, while Leona had turned into a tough cookie for Mika's sake; Mika had just turned to books. All the countless hours she spent in the library whilst growing up had made up for the fear their father induced in them whenever he was drunk or flew into one of his frequent rages over small issues. The library had been a place of refuge for Mika; she was always the last one out and eventually she had been offered a part time job there that managed to see her through college.

When Mika finally woke up to begin the day the sun was already up. She didn't bother changing from her pyjama shorts; she still had to finish up putting things in order in her apartment before reporting to the Europol offices. She also had heavy furniture to push around like her antique bureau which she had insisted to be shipped together with her few belongings. She would definitely need help with some of the lifting; perhaps it was time she paid a neighbourly visit like Leona had suggested. The thought of her sister made her smile, Leona was more than a sister to her, and she was a best friend and sometimes mother figure to her.

Mika got out of her apartment and crossed to the door that was opposite to hers and knocked.

At first Raizo thought he had misheard when a light knock sounded on his door. No one had ever knocked on his door, unless they were lost or mistaken which was rare because he lived at the far end. He had been busy doing his daily rigorous exercise routine with the blindfold around his eyes. He preferred working out that way, Ozunu, his leader slash self-appointed father had told him that the sense of sight was overrated; he could do without it and still achieve the same results. Just the thought of the name Ozunu left a bitter taste in his mouth. It was a thought that he fought to block from his mind every day of his life. He still found he couldn't completely block because as much as he hated the name and the man himself he couldn't escape the fact that his life had been shaped by that man's hand.

Seven years; he had been on the run from Ozunu and his henchmen and he had managed to evade them well. However the question he asked himself regularly was for how long would he stay in hiding, how long would he keep changing places from time to time all around the word? He never stayed at the same place for more than six months; his last place was in Istanbul, Turkey before moving here to Berlin. He had left after his cover was almost blown by a girl who had approached him in the laundry room, she had been sent by the Hanta Kirra to kill him. A fierce fight had erupted which resulted in him leaving her to die in washing machine, a deed he had performed without even flinching.

There was however no worry that the person knocking would have something to do with Ozunu, because ninjas did not knock and certainly did not inform you of their presence. With his sharp hearing he could hear the steady thumping of a heart. An art he had acquired since he had got to know Kiriko, another name that brought a sharp pang inside him. Without bothering to put his t-shirt on Raizo soundlessly crossed over to open the door. The person must have been listening for footsteps. When he opened the door he was met by a startled gasp then he found himself looking down into a pair of frightened brown eyes.

"Hey I—I….." Mika stuttered with embarrassment at being discovered listening on the door as well as being startled by the soundless manner in which the door had been opened.

The shirtless man's face remained blank as he waited for her to speak again. Mika looked back at him trying to string her words together.

"My goodness, this guy is ridiculously hot; he's sex on the legs!" Mika's inner girl voice squealed silently. He looked like he had just been working out. His well-muscled and toned body was gleaming with sheen of sweat and locks of jet black hair fell on an arrogantly good looking face.

"Ok, stop staring, it's totally creepy!" Mika said under her breath now looking away, he raised an eyebrow, he must have heard her and she was clearly starting to look and sound like a mad woman.

"Sorry, I—I seem to have disturbed you" Mika blushed realizing he looked faintly irritated now.

"Can I help you?" he finally spoke. He had a deep slightly accented voice that made anyone who was listening want to pay attention but it was laced with a little hostility.

"I uh—I'm new here, I've just moved across you, I wanted a little help with moving some of my heavy furniture" Mika said in a meek voice, she sure wouldn't be borrowing that cup of sugar from this neighbour. For a moment she thought he was going to shut the door in her face. He raised a surprised eyebrow, as if he found it amusing that she would ask of him anything. It was as if no one had ever asked him for anything, judging from that gloomy look, which person in their right minds would.

"Let me get my t-shirt" he said quietly then retreated into his apartment. Mika sighed after he was out of sight; she had made a complete fool of herself. She had stared, she had stuttered and she had lost coherence in just a few minutes. If first impressions lasted then hers was a flop, but this guy didn't look like the type who minded, being an expressive person herself she was quite confounded when he showed little to no expression at all.

"Mr Cardboard" Mika muttered to herself then she gave a start when she realized he had returned whilst she was lost in her thoughts and he had surely heard her. However his face remained the same rigid composed mask.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh, and by the way I'm Mika Coretti, from the USA" Mika introduced herself in a conversational tone as they entered her apartment.

Silence greeted her, she turned back to look at him he was taking in her apartment with his eyes, his face unreadable as usual. Mika frowned and then said in coolly

"You know, when someone introduces themselves it's an initiative for you to do the same"

"I'm Raizo" he said with a shrug but he was now looking back at her. Mika averted her gaze to the carpet. There was something unsettling about his eyes, not in a bad way but their intensity made one feel self-conscious and a little like they were being X-rayed.

"Raizo" she repeated his name almost shyly, it had a nice ring to it.

"So you've been here for how long?" she inquired. She was now getting the impression that he rarely talked, he was not a conversational person and to ease the awkwardness of the situation she had to engage him.

"Just a year" he was now studying the pictures she had put on the divider.

"Uh huh, okay I wanted help with moving my chest of drawers and headboard to my room" she explained with a gesture.

"I can do that, and you can do something else". It was the first time he had actually spoken more than four words. Perhaps she had been too hasty to judge him.

Raizo watched the petite woman called Mika try to hang a painting on the wall. She had walked straight to his door, knocked it and asked for his help and managed to surprise him at the same time. He could tell she was a bit nervous with him but she was making it up by trying to be chatty. She stole quick glances at him from time to time and she seemed to blush every time their eyes met. It reminded him of Kiriko a lot; during their stay at the dojo he would catch her stealing similar enigmatic glances at him. But there was something different about Mika's glances. He couldn't help but notice the ever present sparkle in her eyes whenever she spoke as well the curiosity that followed.

She had honey- caramel skin tone that had a radiant glow and tousled ebony hair that touched her shoulders. There was an air about Mika Coretti that made it hard to look at her once. Women had always shown a curious interest in him, an interest he couldn't fathom. Always being on the run, Raizo had never taken his time to bask in female company or attempt to get into their pertinent details and he hadn't felt the need to. He found himself a bit puzzled by this one. Now it was his turn to feel slightly embarrassed, he hadn't realized the watching had turned into outright staring until she spoke in a slightly high pitched voice.

"You know what, I think I'm just going to do a year here and then probably request to be moved to Switzerland or France" she said in what was obviously a wild attempt to cover up the awkward silence that had followed.

"So why did you come here?" Raizo asked trying to be also conversational. He must have given the wrong answer; she flinched at his reply as if she had been slapped.

"Can you hold that other side please?" she said almost coldly then handed him the other end of the curtain she had been inserting hooks on.

Raizo had a rare urge to laugh all of a sudden, her trying to look angry was a contradiction, it was more like a cat trying to be a tiger and the result was somewhat hilarious. He knew for a fact that Mika Coretti wasn't a cold person in general but she got upset and made sure the other person knew. Trying her best not to look so aware of him she climbed on a footstool only for it to sway sideways.

It seemed like a split second was all it took for Mika to hang on to the curtain for dear life and to land into Raizo's strong and steadying arms. She had no idea how he had realized she was going to fall before she did and swiftly crossed over to her side. She didn't know what was going to be worse, falling and getting a bruise of just the act of falling in front of her new neighbour. She had already embarrassed herself the first time and it seemed round two was already coming.

"Are you all right?" he asked her seeing the panicked, unfocused look in her eyes.

"I—oh gosh, thanks" Mika managed to mumble breathlessly. He didn't look convinced with her answer nor did he let go off her. She tried to steady her breath that was now coming in gasps. She had dextrocardia, a condition in which the heart was pointed on the right side of the chest instead of the left. Panic attacks usually resulted in her almost gasping for breath for several minutes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he now sounded a bit worried; she was clearly struggling to breathe.

"My heart, it's—"

"On the right side, I know" he interrupted her before she finished her sentence. He led her to the empty couch.

"Mika, I want you to try and calm down, can you do that?" he asked in a business-like tone. She nodded fervently and he could see she was clearly trying but the result was half the effort. Raizo was familiar with the situation that had presented itself to him. He knew the more you tried hard to calm down and breathe at the same time it produced more panic when you didn't achieve the result. He hesitantly placed his hands on either side of her face to get her focus back, she had such soft skin.

"Can you forget about breathing and just try to calm down" he instructed then went on

"I want you to match you heartbeat with mine, do you understand"

It took a short while before her pace became regular, Raizo listened to the now steady thump that was almost in synchronization with his and felt a strange kind of satisfaction combined by relief.

"Are you ok now?" he finally asked. She nodded against his chest and pulled away from him and stood up.

"I think I can now take it from here Raizo, thank you" she said not quite meeting his gaze.

For a moment he sat there in disbelief, from her words it was clear she was asking him to leave. Raizo didn't know whether to just storm out or just plain laugh at this. As a rule he never took orders from people but this was certainly not his house and Mika was not just anybody. To his surprise it actually stung that she had ordered him out and she was waiting. He stood up and made it to the door then he paused, he felt the strong urge to make a statement

"Next time when that happens; try to calm down first, and then focus on the breathing second" he advised. She nodded still not meeting his eyes and opened the door for him.

It was after she closed the door when it dawned to him that she was embarrassed. As far as he was concerned there was nothing to be embarrassed of. Mika was starting to be quite an interesting person to read. To Raizo who had spent his whole life being taught to subdue any kind of emotion it was very amusing to see someone display a kaleidoscope of emotions the way Mika did and he found himself admiring that.

When he returned to his own apartment it was like he was seeing it through new eyes. There was no photo anywhere just like in Mika's home. But who would he put besides himself; he had never known his parents and the likes of Takeshi and Ozunu weren't people you could exactly want in your family portraits. There was no floral scent, just clear air, but it was also necessary so he could not be traced. And there were definitely no sunny paintings or shiny ornaments. The state of a room usually reflected that state of the mind and heart. So did it mean that there was nothing inside there, Raizo thought itself. But he was proud that he was still aware of the presence of his heart. Growing up with Ozunu he had come to believe he had no heart but Kiriko had shown him the way and taught him to listen to it constantly. Right now it was saying a lot of things.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I'm very sorry for being MIA for so long guys. My college break is over so I'm busy with classes and assignments. But I haven't forgotten you one bit, I've made it up with 2 chaps, enjoy and review J

Mika looked glanced briefly at her wristwatch and noticed she was way past her working time. It was nothing new however; she usually burned the midnight oil, poring through archives, books and records in search of the truth. Her reception at Europol so far had been a warm one; she had quickly found her place and felt quite comfortable with her colleagues. She missed the casualness at Quantico and her friends sometimes but it was nothing to complain about, you made your bed and lay in it. As time went on Mika's research efforts had begun to be noticed and it somehow earned her a little more respect and recognition and she had quickly established herself as one of the best researchers in her department.

Ryan Maslow her superior had asked her to look into a case of several brutal slayings of high ranking officials and organized crime members. She was to come up with a hypothesis on the possible cause of their deaths. The slayings were random; the victims had no connection whatsoever to each other and were of different nationalities.

Eventually, Ryan thought there was no case as each theory led to a dead end and far-fetched possibilities. Two weeks later he had told her to drop the case and concentrate on investigating a narcotics ring, something Mika had found boring and dry. She was a person who lived for the thrill; she found excitement in uncovering the hidden things, the secrets.

Speaking of secrets she had a feeling that her new "unfriendly" neighbour Raizo, had a lot of them, he was an enigma. After her breathing incident it was a while before she saw him again. And whenever they bumped into each other she tried to be friendly, throwing in the occasional greetings only to be answered with a barely perceptible nod that didn't show any acknowledgement. At first this had bothered Mika, because she was under the impression that he didn't like her but she soon figured out he didn't seem to like anyone at all. She doubted if he had friends or relatives. For someone his age, leading a quiet life was a little strange. Mika had got the impression that he was on a vigil, waiting, for something. She reminded herself that it was not her business to find out people's secrets, everyone had a right to their privacy. And sometimes if you went digging into people's secrets you got more than you bargained for.

"Still here, Coretti?" Ryan's voice cut through the silence of her office startling her. He was leaning on the doorframe watching her.

"Well, uh just finishing some last minute stuff" she said a little breathlessly, still recovering from the minimal fright.

"I hope it's not what I think it is" Ryan gave her a suspicious look. Mika sighed dejectedly.

"Look, Ryan, I feel we may have omitted something, that we didn't sweep out all the corners" Mika admitted.

"Oh please Coretti, don't tell me you've resurrected your unhealthy obsession with the Delegata case again" Ryan rolled his eyes.

"I'm beginning to find some inconsistencies; the case is crack proof because that is exactly what the perpetrators intended for it to be. For the evidence to be glaringly obvious but untraceable at the same time, can't you see it Ryan?" Mika asked with enthusiasms.

Ryan laughed dryly "Mika, all I see is a woman trying to pursue justice so bad that she starts inventing theorems and wild ideas"

"Is that what you think?" she looked a little hurt. Ryan softened his voice realizing he had blown her ego a little.

"Mika, let me tell you something, when cases are crack proof like this it's better not to pursue them, not only will you be wasting your time but sometimes there is a reason why"

"Like obstruction of justice?" she suggested a little coldly, Ryan sighed and shook his head.

"I didn't say that, you know what Mika, you're digging yourself into one big hole. And if this ends badly getting out that hole may be impossible" Ryan warned.

"I thought you said there was no case" she reminded him

"Well, in case there is, damn you're so stubborn Coretti!" there a note of admiration in Ryan's voice.

"So you'll reconsider?" Mika said triumphantly.

"Let me make this clear, if you have facts, I repeat, facts! Now go home before I drag you out myself"

"Done and dusted!" Mika switched off her laptop and began to gather her things.

"So, are you enjoying yourself here, how's your stay so far?"

"Umm, well its fine, I love it here" she blushed a little, Ryan was studying her intently. She wasn't sure where Ryan's interest in her extended to. They flirted sometimes and teased each other but she wasn't sure how deep it ran. They usually went for lunch together and mostly talked about work, their working relationship had slowly developed into a friendship and mutual understanding of each other.

Mika kicked off her heels when she got inside her apartment, it was almost midnight. At times like this she craved human company. Coming to an empty home with no one to cheer you up, massage your aching feet, or ask how your day was could be that hard. It was every woman's dream, but sometimes you had to sacrifice some dreams to chase other dreams that seemed to be more important. She had dated her fair share of men and some of them were very good guys whom she genuinely felt for. However when it came to devoting her time between her career and her relationships she neglected the latter. As a result her relationships had suffered till the guys just threw in the towel or simply jumped ship.

In her bedroom she shed her clothes for a shower while she listened to her answering machine. She had called several of her contacts in Quantico look into cases of a similar nature for her to see what they would come up with. She wanted to avoid using Ryan's clearance code frequently, she knew he would be upset with her if he found out, so she tried her best to limit the number of times she used it.

"Hey Mika, call me when you get this, you're not gonna believe what I've got" It was her colleague and former boyfriend agent Walker. She smiled faintly and promised herself to call him tomorrow, Walker often tricked her that way, pretending to have urgent information so she would call him quickly, he usually had little information and the rest of the phone call ended with him telling her how much he missed her and that she was the best girl he ever had.

After her shower Mika took out some root beer from her refrigerator and began to go through her email for the new information she had received from Quantico. It was past 2am when she decided to go to bed and have her much needed sleep.

"Holy crap!" Mika cussed for the hundredth time that morning. Her self-imposed exhaustion had caught up with her and the result was waking up an hour late with a throbbing headache to top it all. She had gone through her shower and dressing in a hurried manner and she felt a little disoriented as a result. Without stopping to give herself one last look she grabbed her disorderly files and laptop and rushed out of her apartment.

In her hurry to get inside the just opened elevator she crushed head on into someone. Her folders and bag contents went flying on the tiled floor in all directions. Mika swore loudly and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Could you like, watch where you're going please!" she said in frustration and realized the person she had smashed into was Raizo. He looked like was coming from jogging, judging from the water drenched hair splattered on his forehead and t-shirt with wet sprays from a water bottle. Instead of looking irritated like she was he was unfazed and had a faint smirk.

"Are you actually going to help me pick these up Raizo, seeing that **you** crashed into me" she put an emphasis on the word "you" to make sure he knew he was responsible for this.

"Am I supposed to?" he smirked with amusement.

"You bumped into me dammit, I'm late for work, and I might just as well get fired!" she said in an incredulous and accusing tone.

That mad urge to laugh came back again into Raizo, he though she was very funny when she was trying to get angry and she was actually stamping her foot. Raizo quietly bent down and began to gather her folders while she went after the contents of her handbag. He watched her from the corner of his eye as she took her mobile phone and dialled it.

Mika put on her most sick voice and told Ryan that she was not reporting for work today. She braved herself while he lectured her on how she as overworking herself and how she should deteriorate if she continued like this and he closed by telling her he would come and check on her to which she declined.

When she hung up she realized Raizo was watching her with a hint of a sarcastic smile on his face.

"That was a lie" he said to her quietly, he mentally counted to three and she blushed embarrassedly.

"We all lie at some point don't we?' she extends her arm for her folders.

"I know, you're just bad at it" he pointed out.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Enjoy and review!

Raizo counted to three again and she blushed yet again after he had told her she was bad at lying.

"Well, kind of, but I think I better go back to bed I overworked myself yesterday" she really did look a little exhausted and her eyes showed lack of sleep.

"I could help you relax" Raizo suggested for the first time, the words had come out before he could stop them. She looked at him with undisguised surprise then he almost laughed when he realized his statement had a double meaning.

"I was about to do my daily meditation, so if you don't mind, you could join me" he explained.

"I'm just surprised you would volunteer for something" she said honestly also trying to explain her surprise. He smiled faintly at her and she thought he looked more handsome with that smile. Something told her he wasn't a person who smiled a lot and he had a few reasons to smile about; her heart squeezed a bit at that thought.

"There is always a first time for everything" he shrugged.

"Okay then, I need to go and leave this then get into the yoga attire" she joked and he nodded. They walked back together, in quiet, thoughtful silence.

"Your apartment is so…Spartan" Mika said to him noting the simplicity and plainness of lounge. It was so impersonal, like a bunker or highway motel room only without the art on the wall. There was a simple black leather couch, a glass table and a plasma TV set on the wall. No pictures, no adornments or paintings, the curtains we only partially open giving the room a very dim light. He was obviously a bachelor but there was so much simplicity and precision which somehow came across to Mika as deliberate.

"Sorry, were you in the military, navy or something like that?" she enquired curiously, he led a much disciplined life that much was very clear to her.

"Something like that" Raizo replied in a non-committal tone.

He had the grace and stature of a militant, but Mika sensed he was more than just that, he was more lethal. Her stint at Quantico with the behavioural analysis squad had rubbed off on her, she sometimes found herself analysing people subconsciously. People like Raizo who appeared calm and indifferent on the surface had a lot going on inside and where capable of so much more. One word that chalked down to such people was "dangerous" but Mika never felt safer than when she was with Raizo, besides the fact that he had the ability to mess with her equilibrium without being aware of it, she felt she could trust him with her life. But sometimes you only saw what you wanted to see, that was just the problem in life.

Mika's eyes caught an unsheathed gleaming sword; she had always considered taking fencing as a hobby. She reached out to examine it closely, but before she could even comprehend what had taken place Raizo was standing in front of her and he snatched the sword away from her in a flash.

"A simple swing can cost you a finger or a hand" he said with a growl, he actually sounded a little angry.

"I'm sorry" she was puzzled as to why he had suddenly changed his mood and seemed so worked up.

"Are you ready now?" he asked after a beat. Mika gave him an incredulous look and shook her head.

"Look Raizo, I know we're both trying to be the neighbours from heaven, but this…..this is not working out obviously" she gestured around the room.

"Obviously?" Raizo asked raising an eyebrow. Mika felt like throwing something at him. His ability to both irritate her and keep her on her toes made her almost crazy.

"Seriously, Raizo, you need to get over yourself!" she snapped walking past him. He reached out and gripped her arm, she spun back around. That move surprised both of them, Mika at the sheer strength of in the iron grip and Raizo with the very fact that he had just tried to stop her.

"I'm sorry" he loosened his steel grip but didn't quite let her go. Their eyes met and Mika's flashed indignantly, she was not going to break the silence for him this time.

"Don't go" he finally said, a little self-consciously.

"It's called Tai Chi" Raizo explained calmly to her, after their meditation lesson which left Mika feeling refreshed. They were moving on to a simple form of martial art.

"Like every martial art it's all about balance, balancing your inner being and your outer being.

"Ok, I think I got this" Mika said imitating his posture. Raizo sighed well naturedly and then came behind her. He placed his hand on her lower abdomen correcting her posture.

"Like this, this here is your vortex, where your energy is concentrated" Mika felt his warm breath on her neck and his sinewy body almost against hers. The glass door leading to his balcony reflected her curvy figure fitting into his lean but accommodating one perfectly.

"Mika are you okay?" sounded a bit alarmed, Mika realized she had almost passed out and her breath was quickening a bit.

,"Yeah umm, this all new to me" she said trying to compose herself. Raizo mentally counted to three and she blushed.

"Uh, Raizo I think I need to catch up on that sleep I talked about" Mika said with a sigh. It wasn't fair the way she turned all mushy around him and he seemed unaffected at all, he didn't even break a sweat.

"Will you be okay?" he asked with genuine concern

"I think so, it's just exhaustion and a headache" she liked his concern.

"I'll get you some herbs and come to check on you later" he didn't seem convinced.

"Is there anything you don't know or can't do Raizo? She chuckled making her way to the door.

"A lot" he replied with a mysterious smile that reached his eyes.

"Bye Raizo" she said with smile and closed the door.

Raizo watched Mika leave, she was quite a handful. He could easily scoop her with one arm, the thought alone made him chuckle. What was happening to him, here he was already imagining scooping Mika Coretti with one arm and. She was soft too, when he had corrected her posture he had felt her soft feminine body against his. His hairs had stood on the end; any straight male would feel like that close to Mika Coretti. She had a mysterious vanilla scent mingled with a spicy cinnamon. During his stay with Ozunu, one thing they were taught was to distinguish sense of smell, in order to track down their targets. Over the years they had become better till they could easily find their target. And somehow after his first meeting with Mika, every time he walked down the corridor he could smell her scent. He had been curious as to what she did for a living, it was a bit stalker-ish of him but he had silently tracked her down and he somehow ended up at the Europol headquarters. It wasn't exactly good news for him.

When Raizo knocked on her door Mika muttered a slow oath, she had just got out of bed and was still in her oversized sleeping t-shirt. She ran a brush through her mad scientist hair to no avail, she gave up and half ran to the door.

He was leaning on the jamb and didn't look startled when she opened the door. She silently wondered what it took to surprise a guy like Raizo. He had changed too from the casual jogging attire to a simple black shirt; with the long sleeves rolled up to the elbows and his toned biceps were rippling. It was coupled with stone washed jeans, he looked like a guy who was ready to do a Hugo Boss fragrance commercial, and it was so unfair. He would look good, even in sack cloth, she thought smugly.

"Hey" she smiled shyly up at him; he had noticed that she was checking him out. He smiled back at her

"How are you feeling now?" he asked assessing her mentally.

"I'm good now, I just needed some sleep, come in" she opened the door wider for him.

"The scent is too strong" Mika said over the couch, watching Raizo who was in the adjoining kitchen making his own special brand of tea for her. She had taken a quilt and had covered herself acting like the proverbial patient.

"Plug your nose" Raizo joked with a smirk stirring the contents in the cup. Mika stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed. It was the first time to hear him laugh and she thought it was the best sound she had ever heard.

Every time Mika's feelings did a 360 she had to remind herself that it was just a childish crush. It was the type that you would harbour for boy bands and soccer stars, something impersonal that would fade as fast as it had started. And it was definitely not mutual.

"What's it called?" Mika studied the steaming rusty brown liquid in her teacup

"A mixture of many herbs, drink it while it's still hot. It works better that way" he explained.

He watched her sip the drink with a frown on her face. It was official that Mika Coretti amused him, he found every little thing she did interesting, from her expressive face to her straight talking. While she showed a tough exterior, there was something fragile about her, a part that needed protection. He always felt his protective instinct kick in every time he thought of her or when he was with her. He had spent the last few weeks trying to study her silently from a distance. He had learnt quite a lot of things about her but one thing that stood out was that she was a good person and had nothing to hide. With Mika, what you saw was what you got.

"I'm so glad I can just sit on a couch and watch TV for once" Mika said now feeling relaxed after finishing up the tea. They were now watching a VH1 music show, to be more accurate she was the one watching, she doubted if Raizo did much TV watching but she was glad he was sticking up for her.

"You work too hard you know" it was not a question but a statement, which reminded her of something.

"Raizo, that day when I had a panic attack; you said you knew my heart was on my right side. How did you know?"

"I can hear it" he said simply.

"I don't…..understand" she looked confused.

"It's—something I learnt when I was a child" he tried to explain. He couldn't go into the details for obvious reasons.

"Hmm, how does that work, can you teach me?" she said with childlike curiosity

"You have to really concentrate and it takes a long time to be very good at it"

"Are you trying to discourage me" she pouted and he laughed again, he found it funny whenever she made such facial expressions. He shyly took her hand and laid it on his chest,

"You can always cheat this way" he said in his deep voice. She felt the powerful thumping of his heart against his chest cavity, she looked up at him.

"It's beating fast" she murmured.

"Maybe it's because I'm with you" he inclined his head with his mysterious smile.

"And what's mine sounding like right now?" she asked shyly

"It's fast" he said confidently with a smirk.

"Maybe it's because I'm with you too" she admitted.

What followed after their declarations was a moment of silence, a comfortable silence. Behind that mask of ice that Raizo wore was a gentle and warm person, who was very considerate. She now knew that trust didn't come easily to him, she wasn't sure at what point he had decided to trust her because they had interacted so little which each other. But however she was glad he had decided to. And if she was reading the cards correctly, he was actually starting to flirt with her.

She was very beautiful, thought Raizo watching a sleeping Mika. The tea must have gotten to her, she had had dozed off to sleep. He turned his eyes back to the TV set, trying to concentrate on the music that was playing. Every time he looked at Mika he felt another layer peel off him, it was getting harder to hide the amazement he felt every time he looked at her. Hers was obvious, she didn't hide it, and he wondered what it was about him that made her eyes go wide every time she looked at him. But he liked it nevertheless; it made him feel a little elevated, like he was doing something right. He couldn't explain the feeling he got when he had laid her hand on his chest.

Another track of thought also came on the surface. His newfound friendship with Mika was bad news for both of them. Beside the fact that they came from opposing sides of the system, he had a lot of baggage. He was hiding a lot, he could never allow her into his real world, to see who he really was, who he had been. That's why he had felt a pang of anger when she touched his katana, he didn't want her to know that side of him. The problem was staying away, he didn't know how he was going to.


	5. Chapter 5

Mika waited patiently for the line to be picked on the other end, she was returning Walker's call.

"Hey baby, I though you weren't going to call, my heart was broken" Walker's lazy sounding voice cut through the line. Mika rolled her eyes,

"I was busy Walk, what do you have for me?"

"Ah uh uh, not so fast, where are your manners?" Walker scolded her fondly.

"Okay, how have you been Walker?" Mika sometimes wondered how she had dated such a guy.

"I'm good, as long as I'm out on the field, but I'm missing you honey"

"Walker, could we not do this, this is a business line" Mika couldn't hide her irritation.

"I'll forgive you for that, ok you're really going to need an open mind to believe what I managed to come up with"

Mika waited with a sigh.

"When you want to investigate high profile murders the first lead to follow is the paper trail. Such hits always come with a price tag, a huge one" Walker explained superiorly.

"I figured but my clearance code at the moment is quite sketchy so I can't go into it without blowing my cover" Mika replied.

"Which brings me to my burning question, what the hell are you doing there if they don't give you free reign. At Quantico you had everything" Walker pointed out.

"I wanted a change of geography, Europe is not that bad, and it's actually great" Mika said defensively.

"Have you met some new guy already?" Walker asked suspiciously

"It's none of your business, now, am I going to get the information I want or what?" Mika snapped impatiently.

"Hmm, let's put that on the 'to be discussed later' pile. Okay, moving on now. According to my contact who knows people that know other people at the Swiss bank, indeed huge amounts of money are seemingly attached to these hits. Not directly of course, but a day before a hit, huge amount of money changes hands"

"What amount are we talking about?"

"It varies with the currency but its equivalent to 100 pounds of gold" Walker said in a dramatic tone.

"Wait! I have a folder on the trial of Kunimoto Shigeaki, the prosecutor questioned him about a similar amount but he denied that he knew anything about it"

"Bingo! You can start from there" Walker exclaimed.

"What else?"

"That's all, you know it's illegal to disclose information from Swiss banks, we're talking about 20 years of jail time here. So that was the only information I could get, I don't know the parties behind the transfers unfortunately"

"Thank you for your information Walker"

"Anything for you baby, now let's talk about us" Walker's tone changed.

"Walker, there's no us" Mika said firmly

"I'll call you later, the boss is calling for me" Walker said as if she hadn't spoken. Mika hung up fast before he could say anything further.

Mika felt some excitement at the new development of the case, she was breaking ground. Walker could be a jerk but he was good at what he did. That was one of the things that had made them click; they were both relentless and hardworking individuals.

She pulled out the folder with the Shigeaki case and began to reread it. She took out her highlighter and circled and the 100 pounds of gold part. So she was right, the same group of people were carrying out these slayings. And she was also right that the murders were impersonal, it was all professional. The methods of execution were a bit too traditional too. In the 21st century you'd expect clean executions with high profile weapons or even untraceable poisons, beheading a man was a bit too much. It was as if the assassins were honouring a ritual, there was a possibility they belonged to a sect or even…..a clan.

Mika suddenly thought of Raizo's sword and an idea came to her. The Middle East and the Far East had a tradition that honoured swordsmanship. Swords were considered as family treasures and were passed down from generations and also swords represented a lineage or warriors. So, there was a very strong possibility that the group responsible for the slayings was Asian, if not then they were very good imitators. She switched to her laptop and hit the Google search engine .Mika knew the theory she was now coming up with were daring her to cross into unfamiliar territory where there was a thin line between fact and fiction. She loved taking dares and challenges, this was a make or break situation. It was worth the try.

An hour later Mika half ran out of her office and bustled into Ryan's office without bothering to knock.

"Whoa, you look excited Coretti, I should be really worried now" Ryan exclaimed.

"It matches, all of it!" Mika cried.

"What matches, you need to calm down a little" Ryan slightly frowned .Mika took a breath and said calmly.

"Ryan, I think I know who is behind all those slayings"

"Yes" Ryan inclined his head and waited for her to go on.

"Ninjas, highly trained proficient assassins"

There was a beat of silence as Ryan processed the information she had just told them then he burst into laughter.

"Okay, you have been watching way too many movies Coretti" he chuckled doubling in laughter.

"Ryan this is not funny, I can prove it" Mika said with irritation.

"Mika, I think you need to let this go, your obsession with this is becoming a bit too unhealthy for my liking"

"Obsession? Funny thing is the Europol has records of some of these things" she replied firmly.

"Records that you do not have access to, speaking of which, stop using my clearance code for your one woman crusade."

"Okay, I'm sorry about that" she averted her eyes to the carpet.

"Mika, you surely can't expect me to go to the attorney general and say we have solid proof, ninjas are behind these slayings. He'll only laugh at us all the way out of court. Think about what you are saying" Ryan tried the logical explanation.

"Yeah, I know, but you'll at least look into right?" Mika sighed dejectedly.

"I'm not promising anything, I trust your research very much but this…..this is a little too far-fetched"

"But that doesn't mean it's not true, be open minded" she advised him.

"I said I'll try, now I think you're way past you working hours….again, you need to go home and rest"  
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow Ryan" Mika said finally.

If Ryan thought he was writing her off just like that then he was wrong, dead wrong. She felt a little guilty that she was going to have to use his clearance code again to get hold of some bank statements and Europol records. It was for a much greater cause, she convinced herself. Ryan would thank her later.

Now back at home Mika sat in the downstairs Laundromat with her earphones on. While she had been consumed with the Delegata case, she had neglected her some other things like her laundry. She enjoyed washing in the evening because there was usually no one doing their laundry and that gave her time to listen to music and just thinking.

She had just had a conversation with Leona to who she had offloaded her frustrations to. Leona however was more interested in hearing about Raizo today. Mika had once mentioned in their phone calls, that she had a hot single neighbour and Leona had suddenly become extremely curious. And after Mika had told her about how work and Ryan were driving her crazy, they made a 360 to Leona's favourite topic.

"So how's your baby daddy" Leona had joked with glee.

"Stop it Lee, Raizo is just my neighbour" Mika giggled.

"A neighbour who offers Tai Chi lessons for free?" Leona remarked and they both laughed.

"We just got to know each other like I told you"

"Are you blushing over there?"

"Hell no!" Mika had exclaimed

"Do you like him?"

"Would it sound weird if I said yes?" Mika bit her lip.

"No, from what you've told me I gather he likes you too"

It still sounded a bit weird how she had taken an instant liking to Raizo. She hardly knew anything about him except the fact that he was her good looking neighbour. And which woman wouldn't like him? All women were drawn to his type in an instant, the strong enigmatic type. Usually such men spelled 'trouble' but Mika found it hard to believe that Raizo was a malicious person. It was the most ridiculous thing to do but Mika knew she was falling for him, and fast.

As if on cue, Raizo entered the laundry room, he didn't look surprised to see her like she was. He actually looked like he was expecting to find her here.

"Are you….stalking me?" Mika joked with a surprised smile.

He inclined his head for a second then he smiled

"Maybe"

"I can't believe you, what are you doing here? Don't tell me you're just taking a walk"

"I was looking for you" he said simply looking at her. Mika felt her heart skip a beat and smiled.

"And how did you know I would be here?"

"I just guessed" he teased; she knew he was not going to give her a straight answer for that. It was so typical of him; he always managed to amaze her like that.

"You didn't come for your Tai Chi" he reminded her with a smirk, Mika rolled her eyes and laughed

"Are you telling me you followed me all the way here to remind me of my Tai Chi 'classes'?"

"No, I just thought you might need help with carrying your clothes up the stairs" he gestured at the washing machine.

"Thanks Raizo" Mika said sincerely with a smile on her face.

"So are we neighbours from heaven now?" he teased

"Yeah, something like that". He counted to three and she blushed then he chuckled to himself.

"Are you laughing at me?" she mock punched his shoulder and he keeled over pretending to be hurt.

"Are you? This could get worse for you" she punched him again.

"This is going to end very badly for you Mika" he said in a falsely menacing voice then he scooped her up with one arm like a doll. It was something he had always imagined doing, an opportunity had just presented itself.

"Raizo! Put me down" Mika exclaimed with astonishment, it felt good though. He set her feet down but didn't quite let go off her.

"Now you know that you're no match for me". Mika wasn't sure if she was imagining it but his voice sounded a notch too husky.

'Don't be too sure" Mika half whispered back daring to look him in the eyes. This time the calm exterior was gone, replaced by an intense look that could literary knock her off her feet. With his arm still around her; Mika didn't want to move and from the looks of it neither did he. And he was lowering his face down to hers; Mika forgot to breathe for a moment and she couldn't look away. A twinkling sound from the washing machine pieced the silence that surrounded them. Mika slightly jumped with a fright at the unexpected sound.

"I think the washing's done" he said in a controlled voice.

"Yeah, it gave me quite a scare" she admitted in a slightly high pitched voice. She averted her eyes from his. How was she supposed to behave after such a situation in which she was sure something had almost happened?

"Are you okay now?" he asked, the ice mask was back again.

"Sure" Mika walked away and took the laundry basket from the counter. She was a bit upset that he could just switch his emotions off and on like a light bulb' especially after what had just occurred between them.


	6. Chapter 6

AN:This chap was inspired by a couple of songs, i wanted the emotions that came with those songs to be somwhow a part of this chapter. So I kinda wrote it listening to these songs, to get me in the mood. Just A Kiss-Lady Antebellum, I Feel It In My Bones_Tiesto ft Tegan and Sara, Bring Me To Life-Evanescence. I had fun writing this chap and hope you guys will enjoy

Raizo sat on Mika's bed while she folded her tumble dried clothes. It was his first time to be in her bedroom and there was something satisfying about that. It was becoming pretty obvious that Mika trusted him and that she enjoyed to be around him just like he enjoyed being around her. There was a lovely scent that matched hers that hung in the air and the pastel colours she had chosen for the bedding and curtains complimented her character very well. She was tough yet she was so feminine in every sense. There was something about Mika's character that commanded his respect, his admiration and most of all his attention. He couldn't exactly point a finger to it but he was drawn to her in ways that he had never felt drawn to anyone before.

Even his first short lasting friendship to Kiriko did not hold a candle to this. Kiriko's death had saddened him for many years and he always had that reserved corner inside his heart that grieved for her every day but lately he hadn't visited that corner. He thought about Mika a lot, it was so easy to forget about his burning revenge for Ozunu whenever he thought of her. He knew he wasn't supposed to feel like this, he knew that it was somehow wrong to want something out of his new friendship with Mika. In his exile Raizo had formed a rule, never get attached to anyone, which was the secret to his survival for these past seven years. Human attachments came with a lot of complications and left traces, worse they could endanger the other person. Raizo couldn't even begin to imagine anyone hurting Mika; every time that thought came into his mind he felt deep revulsion for whoever would try to hurt her.

After the incident in the laundry room Raizo's head was still reeling a bit though he managed to hide it. He wanted to kiss her, not just as a man kissing a woman he felt attracted to. He wanted to kiss her the way a man kissed the woman he wanted. He had no idea at what point his admiration for her had shot up a notch higher to something else more. The feeling almost drove him crazy; it was a weakness he knew. His lifestyle did not permit weaknesses, he had been schooled not to give in to whatever weakness that tempted him but how could he even begin to resist this.

"Should we make some tea or have a snack?" Mika asked taking him out of his reverie.

"No, I'm fine" he declined with a shake of his head. Mika joined him on the bed then she laid her head on the pillow.

"It's a bit odd isn't it?" she murmured.

"What?" Raizo was debating whether he should lie down too, beside her without making the situation look awkward.

"Us, our 'neighbours from heaven thing'" she chuckled.

"Just a little, but there's nowhere I'd rather be now, but here" Raizo admitted then he gave in and lay down too.

"Can I cheat?" she asked shyly. Raizo smiled and nodded

"Yes you can". Mika outstretched her hand and laid it on Raizo's hard chest. She felt the powerful thump of his heart and it was fast as she had suspected. This time she didn't need to ask why, she knew why. She looked back at him and he had a smug smile on his handsome face.

"I don't need to ask you about mine since you can hear it already"

"Your heart is special" he simply said. Raizo had the ability to say the simplest things, yet those things found their way into her heart.

"You know when I was a child I always wished that someday my dad would sit with me on my bed and tuck me in" she confessed.

"He didn't?" Raizo asked curiously. It was the first time Mika was talking about herself on a much deeper level.

"He pretty much didn't do anything" she shrugged; there was a note of sadness in her voice. Raizo instinctively moved a bit closer to her.

"But we survived you know, me and Leona, we made it" she said with pride.

"You sister must a good woman" he commented.

"She's more than good, she's strong too, and she would hide me when dad got into one of his rages" she explained with a wistful look.

"Rages?" Raizo frowned.

"Oh he got angry a lot, he had anger management issues. He ranted, threw things, drank like a maniac…." Mika explained trying to sound nonchalant however Raizo did not buy it. There was obviously something she had deliberately omitted.

"He never beat you did he?" he asked suspiciously. She averted her eyes from his and he could see the answer written on her face. He felt angry, he didn't know her father and had never met him but the revulsion he felt for the man was much greater. However she quickly managed to change the topic and they were soon sharing experiences of the places they had been around the world. She was quite surprised that he had been to many places and felt quite envious of him. She quizzed him about a lot of things concerning those places and he was more than happy to explain. They also compared their multi lingual skills and she sulked when he beat her with his knowledge of more foreign languages than she did. As usual he found it amusing when she did that and for the first time he told her so.

In those midnight hours they discovered quite a lot about each other, their common interests, their dislikes, their hopes and dreams. Raizo had never had such a conversation with anyone, he had never had a moment where he was so open with someone to this extend. There was nothing too physical about their contact but the intimacy they shared with just talking was undeniable. He was not schooled into courting woman or knowing how to go about the whole thing but he somehow knew with Mika he was scoring. He didn't feel like he had to go out of his way to get her attention, to impress her or rip off cheesy lines from god knows where. Everything just felt so real; they didn't have to force anything or come up with crazy declarations. He watched her fall asleep with her hand still on his chest; he couldn't remove it for anything. He heard her now steady heart beat and he smiled to himself with a little satisfaction. He reached out for the bed lamp switch and he turned off the light. Lying here with her was enough for now.

When Mika woke up the next morning Raizo was still there with her, and it somehow gave her butterflies seeing his handsome face next to hers.

"Hey" she smiled shyly at him.

"Hey neighbour" he teased and she laughed.

"Did we just have a sleepover?"

"Something like that" he nodded with a thoughtful look on his face. Mika was quiet for a moment then asked him.

"So what do you want to do today?"

"I don't know; as long as I'm with you, does that sound ok" he said hesitantly not knowing how she would react.  
"Fair enough, because I want to be with you too" she smiled at him then

"Raizo"

"Yes"

"You and me, are we like, dating now?' she looked a bit self-conscious asking that. Raizo raised himself and rested with one elbow on the pillow.

"Would you want me as your boyfriend?

"Yes, Raizo, I would want that very much" he counted to three and she blushed then he laughed.

"Good, because I want that too" he said sincerely. It was too late to rethink anything, he had made his bed and he had to lie in it as well. Besides, it was the truth; he wanted to be a lot of things to Mika; he had fallen for her and he had fallen hard.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Hey guys, the confrontation between Mika and Maslow in this chapter was inspired by a deleted scene in the movie. I'm can't remember if it made it to the final cut but I thought Ryan's anger in that scene was believable. Of course I added my owned stuff and gelled some separate parts together. Hope you enjoy, and of course I listened to Iridescent by Linkin Park and Heavensent by Keyshia Cole while writing this chapter.

Mika curled up on her couch going through the new printout she had just received using Ryan's code on the Delegata case. With snatches of evidence that were starting to come together she was convinced she had a solid case altogether. As she went through the background history of the Nine Clans she couldn't believe her eyes. Not only did it match with the hypothesis she had come up with but it all seemed like one big joke. What kind of people stole children and deliberately turned them into assassins?

She knew there was so much cruelty in the world but to deprive children of their innocence and freedom topped took the price. It was difficult to imagine that there were human beings out there who existed for the sole purpose of killing people. What kind of life was that? The cold and brutal manner in which the slayings were done also confounded her. These clans had been in existence for millennia, they had killed people, left no traces and where still doing so. What bothered her was the fact that no one had actively tried to stop them it was like they were relentless. It also seemed like governments were involved, governments that didn't want their hands dirty or any the aftermath traced to them. Gone were the days of staging car accidents, mysterious shootings, abductions. It seemed like a couple of ninja assassins were the hot commodity on the market and they called out a huge price tag but got the job done one hundred per cent

Perhaps she could ask Raizo if he knew anything about these supposedly mythical figures that were leaving a wake of devastation in the present day world. Raizo looked like the type of guy who knew and saw a lot of things than he let on sometimes. She had been hesitant to ask him about what he did but she suspected he worked for some kind of intelligence secret agency. Just thinking of him brought a warm feeling inside her. It was an exciting experience of starting to enjoy each other. They had spent the whole afternoon the previous day talking about the next step they had just made with their relationship. She knew a girl wasn't supposed to put all her eggs in one basket and hope for too much when nothing had even begun yet. But with Raizo she couldn't help but hope for more, she couldn't help but need him a little more.

She knew that she did not know Raizo through and through but whoever did know anyone fully? She sensed there was a part of him that he did not want to open up about, there was a 'locked section' somewhere inside him. Usually the locked sections in people were connected to all the ugly things and they came with a lot of pain attached to them. And it took the right key to unlock such doors. All she could hope for was maybe one day when he was ready; they would talk about it, and most of all she hoped she wasn't in for a rude awakening.

The pounding knock on her door startled her and brought her out of her dreamlike reverie. She knew it wasn't Raizo; he definitely didn't knock like that. She pulled her silk wrap gown around her tighter and made it to the door.

"You lied to me!" Ryan exclaimed angrily bustling inside her apartment, without waiting to be invited in.

"Ryan, what the hell?" Mika asked with genuine puzzle on her face.

"I told you to stop using my confirmation code!" he half shouted.

"I didn't—"Mika began but he cut her mid-sentence.

"Stop effing lying to me Mika!' he thundered.

"Ok, I'm sorry Ryan, but it was the only way I could get the evidence" she confessed.

Ryan ran a hand through his hair in frustration and muttered a profane word.

"Why? What happened?" Mika looked a little confused.

"Everything has effing happened Mika, and guess what, you're responsible for this shit storm" he took a deep breath but the anger was still clearly visible.

"While you were slapping my code all over town like some phone number in a public toilet, did you happen to notice the classification code on the case you were digging through?" he demanded. Mika nodded glumly.

"And what did it say?" he quizzed.

"DNP" she admitted quietly

"That's right, DNP; DO NOT PURSUE. DO NOT FUCKING PURSUE Mika!"

"Actually that would be DNFP" she pointed out with a little cheek, Mika respected and liked Ryan but she did not like the manner he was addressing her.

"Right now there are people from internal affairs. CIA, Homeland and for all I know the Martian effing military tearing my office apart. I don't know what they're looking for but I suspect it has something to do with this new case hobby of yours"

"So, there is a case after all. And I was right to think the government has a hand in all this" she said defiantly.

"Who cares, I'm on the verge of losing my job here because of your obsession with guys in black pyjamas who are allegedly running around town slaying people"

"I'm not just letting this go Ryan because it's the truth. And everyone deserves to know the truth. These people are stealing children and turning them into assassins, how is that right?" she demanded.

"Ever considered working on the international court of law?" Ryan sighed

"Yes, I might end up there" she said in a matter of fact tone.

"Mika, what would it take for you to let this go?"

"The truth Ryan, the truth"

"I can see you're not letting this go. I have my friend Alexei Sabatin, from the KGB. He compiled a report on the Nine Clans, not ninjas. It was compiled during the height of the Cold War, there's some stuff that might interest you in there" Ryan opened his briefcase and took out a semi thin folder then handed it to her.

"I also wrote down his address in there in case you need to meet him."

"Thank you Ryan" Mika said softly.

"Wait, I have a condition. Once you get what it is you're looking for then you drop the case, and I mean it this time" he emphasized. Mika nodded.

"Do you understand me?" he repeated

"Yes Ryan"

"Good because this one woman crusade of yours is going to end very badly. Now is there anything to drink here?"

"Sure, I have some Chardonnay" Mika gestured to the kitchen, then a light knock sounded on the door. She knew who it was this time; she crossed over the door to open the door for Raizo.

"Hey" she made way for him to come in.

What followed was an awkward moment as the two men looked at each other with curiosity.

"Uh Raizo, this is Ryan Maslow my boss from work. Ryan this is Raizo" Mika introduced them.

"Good to meet you Raizo" Ryan outstretched his hand giving Mika a quizzical glance which she didn't return. He obviously wanted to know what kind of relationship existed between them. Raizo made a curt bow at Ryan and shook his hand. More awkward silence followed until Ryan spoke.

"I better get going Mika, I'll see you. And don't forget what I said" he warned. He nodded at Raizo who nodded back and Mika saw him out.

Mika sighed after closing the door,

"Are you ok?" Raizo asked studying her anxious face.

"Not really, I just had a mini fight with him about a case I'm working on. He wants me to leave it because it's too risky" she tried to explain.

"What type of case?" he raised an eyebrow.

"It's—just a little complicated. I don't want to talk about it now" she said resignedly. It was clear she was upset. She wrapped her arms around his torso and leaned on his chest. Raizo stroked her hair and spoke

"Mika"

"Hmm?" she murmured.

"I don't like seeing you sad" he said simply. Mika laughed lightly.

"Ok Raizo" she nodded.

"That day in the laundry room, I wanted to kiss you" he confessed boldly. He counted to three and blushed than he chuckled.

"And I still want to" he finished. He took her face in his hands.

Mika closed her eyes when their lips met; she just prayed she wasn't going to pass out. It started out as subtle brief kisses in which she they both laughed shyly after ever break. Then each kiss became quite longer than the last one until they were no pauses.

Mika wasn't sure for how long they stood there kissing, locked into each other's arms but all she knew was that it felt good. She loved the way he sighed her name after a taking a break to catch their breaths. She loved the way his fingers ran in her hair and intertwined themselves on her scalp. It was a deep and passionate kiss that spoke volumes about his need for her. He didn't leave any part of himself outside the kiss. Finally they drew apart and leaned their foreheads together. She could see the desire in his eyes; he had a determined look on his face.

"That was…epic" Mika whispered barely concealing her pleasure, Raizo's eyes lighted up at her words and he scooped her up with his arm and sat on the couch with her in his lap. They kissed again, this time it was a slow relaxed kind of kiss but equally enthralling. Raizo thought it was high time he started talking if he wanted to be around this woman for a long time to come.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: I kinda felt that before the real drama started I had to fully develop Mika and Raizo's relationship. For the feelings of pain, betrayal and abandonment they'll deal with later, their relationship had to be believable too. You can't fly of the rocker without a bond and deep feelings involved. Inspired by the song I Run To You by Lady Antebellum. Enjoy J

The air whistled as Raizo swung his chain blades in swift complicated moves. He had received some disturbing news from his informant, an old man who owned a tattoo studio in Japan. He saved the man's life once after he had attacked a gang of Yakuzas who were unleashing violence in a district he had once hidden in. This man was more than a tattoo master as Raizo had later learnt. He was a medicine man as a historian. He had exclusive information concerning the clans, had studied them for generations and had also watched them closely. He also had friends in some of the clans whom he had treated back to health. It was the Ozunu clan from which Raizo came from that he did not know much about. The Ozunu clan was said to be the most feared one of the nine clans not only because of their highly proficient assassins but because their power lay in their secrecy. Lord Ozunu had not only managed to keep a secret his ancient methods but he had also kept the location of the Dojo a secret from many.

Before his escape Raizo had been taken to Dubai blindfolded to complete his first mission. He was supposed to kill a rival Triad member called Kingpin and bring back his watch as a token that he had completed the task. Raizo's split second of hesitation in slitting the man's throat with his kurisagama had almost cost him his life. He had hesitated because he had asked himself why he was to kill this man; obviously the pompous jerk had done a lot of bad things just like everyone. He just could not shake the feeling that it was not his fight, this man was a stranger, and he had never met him or know him enough to be the one to decide that he deserved to die. But then a bloody fight had ensued between them and it was either kill Kingpin or Kingpin would kill him; failure to do both and Ozunu would kill him.

All the resentment he had been harbouring for Ozunu and Takeshi had spilled on the surface when they had asked him to kill a girl who had tried to escape on that rooftop. It was like a slap in the face as well as a wakeup call. His need to avenge her death had taken over his need for self-preservation.

And now the tattoo master was telling him the clan was on the move again and they were coming to Europe. It was obviously not to look for him, that he swore, because he was so sure of his cover .He suspected they were coming to assassinate someone, but whom? He had tried to glean as much information as he could but he couldn't come up with anything solid. And now he was waiting for more news, the old man was fishing and he certainly would come up with something for him.

Here was a brilliant chance for revenge presenting itself to him, the perfect moment to end it all. He knew he was the best, of all Ozunu's students he was by far the best. Although with Takeshi he knew it would be almost a fair fight because Takeshi was ruthless, and he cheated if he had to. But he thought of Mika, was his new life with her worth leaving and pursuing a past he'd rather forget. How would he explain a sudden disappearance and what if he never returned, a one man army was hard to walk away from. Would he be ever be able to live with himself in this life or the next if he did that to her.

"Hey Raizo!" Mika called out knocking his door. He always locked it when he worked out, he didn't want her to see him in that mode and wielding those kind of weapons. That was the problem with not being truly honest. You were forced to hide a lot of things but the more you tried that more the guilt piled up. He took his towel and dried off excess sweat then he draped it around his neck going to the door.

"Why are you locking yourself in?" she asked suspiciously after he had opened the door.

"Just out of habit, how was your shower?" he asked in a husky tone that told her he was imagining her taking that shower. She tugged his towel playfully with a grin.

'"Umm, pretty okay, were you working out?" she asked glancing at his bare torso.

"Something like that, I think I need a shower too" he said not quite meeting her eyes.

"I'll wait" she said with a nod wishing she could join him in that shower too. Raizo turned to go to the bathroom then he heard her gasp. He quickly spun and swiftly looked around the room before asking

"What is it Mika?" he sounded worried.

"Your back Raizo, you have so many scars" she said with disbelief clutching her mouth. Raizo took a deep breath and braced himself to answer her question.

Besides the fact that he didn't want to come across as too forward it was one of the reasons he restrained himself with her. He had slashes of scars that resembled a spider web on his back. Most of them from Ozunu's bamboo rod beatings and some from the fighting and inhibited brutal training. How could he explain those scars without revealing some part of himself to her?

"Raizo….how—why" she asked tracing the ugly crisscross on his back. He felt his hairs stand on the end feeling the soft touch of her fingers. It was a soothing touch, the scars no longer hurt of course but Mika seemed to be erasing them altogether.

"I—uh had an accident some time back, it's mostly glass cuts" he lied, sometimes the answers were more difficult than the questions.

"What kind of accident does this?" she sounded horrified. Raizo didn't want to turn and look into her eyes for fear of the pain he would see in them. He had heard her teary sounding voice.

"A bad one—I'd rather not talk about it" he said hesitantly. Then he felt her soft lips kiss the scars lightly. It amazed him that she would feel the pain for him as if she was the one who had gone through it. She wrapped her arms around his back and rested he cheek there. Raizo let out a silent sigh. The more he lied the more he kept going in deeper. It was clear to him Mika's feelings for him were than surface feelings, they ran way deeper. No one had ever showed him such compassion and no one had ever held him the way Mika did. He intertwined his hand with hers

"If I don't move now I'll never take that shower" he reminded her, wanting to divert the attention from his scars.

"Yeah, sure" Mika said loosening his hold on her. Raizo finally turned and he was right. Her eyes were evidently moist.

"Hey, it's fine" he murmured taking her face in his hands.

'I'm being silly and a cry baby right?"

"You're being my cry baby" he kissed her forehead then left her for the bathroom.

Raizo had just walked out of the shower still wrapped up in his drying towel when she walked into his room.

"You have a call a babe" She handed him the phone and Raizo was careful to speak to the tattoo master in Japanese so she couldn't hear. The target was a woman who was on the verge of exposing the clans. Raizo wanted a picture of the woman so if possible he could try and contact her. Killing a woman was something he didn't fancy especially when the woman was defenceless. But the clan did not care much about their targets, the just did what they were paid for. The only woman he had killed was the Hanta Kirra assassin in Istanbul and that was it. Plus he needed the clans exposed on the other hand, that was welcome news. If this woman had enough evidence to expose the clans it was going to make his revenge plan easier and less complicated.

"You're going to have to teach me that language one of these days and I'll teach you Dutch" she chided.

"Uh—how do you say you are sexy in Dutch?" Raizo teased.

"Je bent wenselijk "it's more like, you're desirable, she blushed"

"I love the sound of that . what about I want you?" he smirked wrapping his arms around her waist and drew her closer.

"Ik wil dat je" she giggled.

"And I want to kiss you?" he planted subtle kisses on her neck.

"Ik wil je kussen" Mika trembled a litttle. He was literary seducing her with words and she thought that was very classy and randy for a man to do that. He wanted her and he wanted her to know it. He was different from the men who just started groping awkwardly. He not only wanted her to know she was desirable , he wanted her feel it too. He was taking the initiative here and the spark were already flying about in the air.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Hey guys, I'm so sorry for my looong absence, had some assignments and school to deal with. Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favouring, it means a lot to me. Enjoy the chap, I also took time to plan it cos it's the turning point in the story so here's to hoping I did some justice to it and the feelings that the characters experience. Basically it's a continuance of where I left chapter 8.

Raizo's onyx eyes had a luminescent glow in them that still shone in the semi darkness of his bedroom. Somehow the shadows cast in the room seemed to add to the intense atmosphere that hung in the air.

"Breathe...Mika" Raizo chuckled in a husky voice touching her face; his hands were warm and gentle.

"I'm ...trying" she whispered shyly with a smile trying to sound composed. She always found it unfair that it took all her resolve not to pass out every time he kissed her. He had a way with her that tilted her balances but it also made her more drawn to him.

Now there was a new sense of undisguised intimacy in the way he was looking at her and in the way he was standing with her. He angled her chin to his face and lowered his head to kiss her again. There was no shirt collar to hold on to this time, just him and his drying towel, she tiptoed and wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting him closer than he already was.

Raizo knew it was wrong in every sense of the word to be with her like this but lately he had been running out of excuses. Every minute, every hour, ever day he spent with her, he got in further and deeper and it was getting easier to just give in to his feelings. Now he found that he didn't need to think twice about what he was doing and what was going to happen now between them. He didn't see the hesitancy he thought he would see in her eyes when he laid her down on his bed nor the uncertainty in her response to his touch. She was lost in the moment just like he was, he tried not to think of all the things he hadn't told her about himself so far. He also knew somewhere from the back of his mind that it didn't matter anymore, he liked the person he was becoming with her. Instinctively their hands sought each other and intertwined on the pillow. There was no going back for both of them and that knowledge was just as good to Raizo.

"Don't move" Raizo murmured an hour later resting his chin on her shoulder when she made an attempt to get up and untangle herself from his hold.

"I don't want to—but I have to be somewhere, I'm supposed to meet with a witness who's helping me in my investigation" she explained turning her face to his.

"Is it that investigation you were told to leave?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yeah I uh—I'm wrapping it up today" she said a little defensively.

"You're stubborn, you know that?" there was a note of admiration in his voice.

"So I'm told" she grinned and kissed his nose, he smiled and kissed her own back.

"And I like that about you" he finished now stroking her hair

"Because you know you can out stubborn me" she reminded her

"And I can out do you" he smirked.

"Raizo!" Mika laughed at his innuendo.

"What?" he said blankly but she knew him a little too much now.

"Let's go out tonight" she suggested.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere as long as I'm with you" she finished.

"Mika, I've never taken a woman out" he confessed shyly.

"Are you a caveman or what?" she teased; not phased at all by his confession in the least. He took her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly and before long the kissing had turned into another passionate interlude.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you there?" Raizo asked watching Mika who was now brushing her hair. He had a feeling that was nagging him at the back of his mind and he just couldn't explain it, but then again he was getting so used to her and doing things for her that it felt natural now to have that feeling.

"I'll be back before you miss me" Mika turned to smile at him and he smiled back. She always thought he looked more handsome whenever he smiled, and lately he had been doing that a lot.

"I'll be waiting for you" he stated in a matter of fact tone. Mika crossed over to where he was and hugged him tightly. He walked her to the door and watched her go, not hiding his fascination with her this time. She was like a light that had shot out from nowhere and shined particularly just for him only. He wanted to be a lot of things to Mika Coretti and he felt that this was only just the beginning of that.

He suddenly remembered he had switched off his phone after his last call; he was slipping up, getting too comfortable. If he wanted to stay a step ahead like he had always done then he better get his act together or the consequences would be dire. He was planning to tell Mika the truth about his past when she came back. He knew there was a risk of losing her if he told her but he also knew she would understand him, that he was no longer that person anymore. But how would she react to the fact that he was a wanted man, always on the run. He wouldn't want Mika to be a part of that, to live with him on the run, it was not fair to her. The message tone sounded once he had switched on his phone. It was from the tattoo master and he had found the woman on the Ozunu hit list. Raizo was to meet with one of the old man's contacts and get the picture and address of the target.

Mika knocked on Mrs Sabatin's door and waited. She checked image on the window pane opposite. She looked a bit frumpy with Raizo's oversized hoodie she had decided to throw over. She had noted a while ago that Raizo never wore a body fragrance but he had this distinctive clean scent that she loved and become to know so well. Wearing his hoodie somehow reassured her and also constantly reminded her that he would be there waiting for her when she got home. The way she took things in strides, when it came to Raizo both amazed and frightened her sometimes.

The door was opened jolting her into a surprise, a middle aged short woman with dark hair that was greying stood before her.

"Hi, Frau Sabatin?" she said a bit nervously in German. The woman was sizing her up as if mentally assessing her. Mika felt a bit uncomfortable .

"Ja, come in" Mrs Sabatin said finally, opening the door wider for her.

It was clear that Katya Sabatin lived alone; there was this feeling of solitude that encompassed Mika when she settled on the couch. Katya had insisted that she make tea for her since the weather outside was chilly. Mika looked at the photographs on the mantelpiece. A lot of them had an aloof blond man featuring, piloting a helicopter, wearing military regalia, teaching a boy how to fish. It was apparent that Katya missed her husband and his memories hung everywhere. Mika wondered what it felt like to lose a soul mate, a person you had grown so familiar with and had become a part of then one day they were suddenly gone. She had felt the pain of loss once when she had lost her mother, then she had been too young to comprehend anything, but she had grown up with a hole inside her. How would it feel she lost Raizo? Mika quickly blocked the though from her head, she didn't want to imagine how she would feel but she now knew pain would be an understatement.

"That's Alexei, I'm sure by now you have figured, he's all over the house" Katya interrupted her thoughts seeing where her attention was.

"Oh, yeah, sure I figured, I'm sorry for your loss" she said with a little embarrassment.

"He was my best friend" Katya said wistfully, then poured tea for her. Mika picked the fork and cut into the delicious looking chocolate cake.

"You see my husband never discussed his work with me" Katya's Russian accent was becoming more pronounced as she spoke.

"Then one day he came home paranoid and disturbed, he had flashlights, cameras and censors installed al around the house"

"What could have been the cause of that" Mika asked expertly, although she already had an idea.

"I don't know, but shortly before he—died a young man paid him a visit. Alexei did not looked pleased but he let the young man in and they talked for hours in his study.

"What kind of young man?" Mika tried to hide her eagerness.

"Oriental, I happen to have the footage here, we had surveillance cameras" Katya explained.

"Since that day, he became more paranoid, he hardly slept and when night time arrived he grew more nervous, then one evening the lights suddenly went out. The fright was replaced by resignation and he told me he loved me then—"Katya's voice faded and Mika knew what had followed.

Katya went upstairs and came back then he handed her a medium sized box.

"I thought you might need to see everything that is in that box, I have no use for it but I'm happy I have someone who believes in Alexei's work"

"Thank you Mrs Sabatin, I assure you, it won't be in vain" Mika reiterated.

"Good luck Mika" Katya opened the door for her.

"Oh and you need to cover those if you're going to work" Katya her gave a knowing smile looking at her neck.

"I—uh thanks, okay" Mika was too embarrassed to say anything further. She hadn't given herself a thorough primping like she usually did when she left home. Also she had no idea her skin tone would highlight hickeys. She untied her ponytail and let her wavy her down, she felt like a silly teenage all over again.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:** Hope you enjoy this one too, made it up to you guys by writing 2 chaps at once. Had to watch the movie again at some popint to get the inspiration and not go off context :) ;). enjoy and review!

Mika clutched her mouth with shock tears falling from her eyes. She had rewound the footage over and over again hoping she would see an inconsistency or a mistake somewhere. She was so desperate for it to be false that she had wasted a lot of time trying to convince herself that the man who had visited Alexei Sabatin was not Raizo. She tried convincing herself that most oriental people looked alike but she knew it was not true. She knew Raizo's features like the back of her hand, the way his jet black hair fell on his face, the same unrelenting eyes that always seemed faraway yet always aware, the height, and his lips.

It seemed like a lock had just unlocked somewhere in her heart. Was she really so blind that she had failed to connect everything? With her now deep knowledge of the clans how had she failed to notice that Raizo's lifestyle matched theirs. She had always known from the back of her mind that Raizo was something much more but it never dawned to her that he was an assassin. She needed answers; something that could explain all the madness, the coincidences. How had she ended up living opposite to Raizo, knowing him and loving him? How did Raizo fit into all this, must they have known all about her and sent him to keep an eye on her? Had Raizo known all along whom she was, had he deliberately planned on falling for her and seducing her? So many questions, yet so little answers.

All this while she had been living with a killer, she had let him in her life, in her heart and her bed. How could such a caring guy like Raizo be one of those people? It just wasn't making sense at all; it felt she had been living one big lie all this time or that one big joke with a missing punch line had just unravelled before her.

Before she had time to collect the chaos that was becoming her thoughts Ryan burst into her office and his face was red with undisguised anger.

"Okay Coretti, this is it. You're now officially off this case, any—"he stopped when he realized she had been crying, he sighed for a moment trying to simmer down then spoke.

"What's wrong Mika, why are you crying?" he had a slight frown on his face.

"I—uh want out of the case Ryan" Mika couldn't tell him she had been compromised and neither could she tell him that one of the criminals was the guy she was in love with. She needed answers from Raizo first before taking any action; it was one big mess within a mess,

"Took you long enough to say that huh?" Ryan tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"I'm sorry—"she began

"Sorry doesn't even begin to cut it kid, do you have any idea how many hellhounds you have set lose here on us?" Ryan questioned, she had a big idea, and she had just set another hound loose in her own backyard.

"What are we going to do" she burst out in frustration.

"There's no we Mika, this case is bigger than any of us, I had an inquisitorial squad on me this afternoon, I have no idea what's going on but I can see danger 20 miles away"

"Fine, I'm going to find a way to prove this-" Mika began resignedly, as if she had an option,

"No, no you're going to go home, pack your suitcase and go for an effing holiday, do you understand me?"

"Holiday?" Mika said in a high pitched voice

"I hate to say this but you're no longer safe here, if what I've heard about these pyjama boys is true you better get a head start because they'll come for you"

"But—"

"No buts Mika, I can no longer protect you here. You need to leave. Here's a phone and a plane ticket to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, you have to be out of the country by 9pm do you understand?"

"I'm sorry Ryan, for this mess—"  
You wanted the truth, now you got it…..a word of advice Mika, in this profession some doors are kept locked, it's best for everyone. Now, I've investigated mobsters, drug cartels arms' dealing but this is effing unbelievable for ninjas!" Ryan laughed dryly.

"Hey Raizo, it's me, just saw your missed calls, I'm on my way now—um we need to talk" Mika said on the phone trying to keep her shaky voice steady. Raizo's phone was now going on voice mail. Had he also suddenly got wind that she knew the truth now and he was probably halfway out of town fleeing or waiting to silence her?

, "Damn! Damn dammit" Mika hit the steering wheel with her hands, tears of anger _frustration and pain flooding in her eyes. As she drove she was debating on what to_ do. She knew she needed to talk to Raizo and get some answers. That was if he was willing to give them but she also knew she needed to stay alive. Self-preservation versus getting closure. She was willing to take that dangerous chance that Raizo wouldn't kill her; that after all they had been through together he was still the guy she knew. But also she had just found out that she didn't know the man at all and she could possibly face a charge of obstruction of justice. She decided she was going to listen to Ryan this time, she had learnt her lesson on what happened if she didn't. She was going to pack her bag and run as fast as she could then she would call her sister and pour out her heart.

When she arrived the whole apartment block was cast in darkness, fear gripped Mika, had they already found her. She knew the ninjas' method or eliminating their victims, darkness and shadows made them almost invisible to their prey. However there a couple of people outside some were sitting down and some were smoking and having jolly conversations and seemed unaffected by the blackout.

She slowly walked to a plumb man who was comfortably sitting on a garden hair reading a newspaper.

"Hey, what's going on here?" she inquired casually.

"Hey, the lights are out, our block, the one next to us and the one across the street" the man replied in a laid back manner that showed that he was not bothered in the least.

"Uh, does this usually happen?" she pressed further just to be sure.

"Yes, once every month the lights just bang! Out!' he tried making a joke out of it.

"Okay" Mika felt a little relieved and began to make her way to the entrance,

"Hey, where are you going, you'll bump into people in there or worse, miss a step. I suggest you chill out here" the man called out to her. Mika ignored him; she knew she had no time at all. She took out her phone and hoped the light would be enough to work as a torch. She went up the stairs cautiously looking around just in case someone was hiding and waiting to ambush her or following her silently.

Mika was relieved to get into her apartment without any disruptions, she felt so relieved that she could just weep. Her door was locked as usual and when she entered everything seemed to be the way she had left it. She half ran into her bedroom then thought she heard a movement somewhere; she jumped and shined her phone around nervously. Her bedroom window was wide open and there was a draught blowing it, she convinced herself that it was the wind. She remembered leaving the window closed though, but her brain wasn't working right for the past few hours. Mika dragged her suitcase from the closet and threw it on her workstation breaking a water glass and crashing some books in her haste. She ran back to the closet to take a few clothes and toiletry. She thought of Raizo as she gathered an armful of her clothes. What would he do when he found her gone, would he also feel his heart breaking just like hers was breaking? Would he also feel a sense of loss like the one she already felt? She felt tears sting her eyes.

A white origami envelope she was hundred per cent sure had not been there a few minutes ago now rested on her red suitcase. She remained frozen staring at it for a moment contemplating on what to do. With visibly shaking hands she reached for the envelope and black sand fell out of it. They had come for her; that was definite. She was going to die, that was also a given. She felt one of her full-fledged panic attacks grip her. She found it hard to breathe with each passing second. Then she a sinking feeling that someone or something was watching her and that someone was in this room. The unmistakable whistle of blade slicing the air made her turn momentarily; a sword seemed to have surfaced from the shadows and was now aiming for her neck. Mika couldn't even scream; time seemed to be suspended; she had met her end now.

She was jolted back to life when the unmistakable sound of metal against metal rang the room. Sparks shot out and she realised the sword had met resistance from a chain. There were two people in her room, one trying to kill her and the other trying to stop her killer.


	11. Chapter 11

Mika shone her light at the shadows and spotted a black clad figure perched on her pelmet only to be hurled down with a chain. The figure crashed on her wooden floor almost soundlessly and was up in a split second. A full-fledged fight broke out between the two figures; it was like watching something out of a fantasy game. The shadows moved so fast yet they were so subtle that she hardly saw anything. Metal clanged against metal, chains whistled in the air and struck. In terror Mika took the loaded glock Ryan had given her and she began to shoot blindly at the darkness. As the fighting intensified one of the figures swiftly kicked the gun out of her hand and he pushed her out of the way. She slid across the room and banged her head on the hard wall. There was the unmistakable sound of a whistling chain and a blade ripping into flesh followed by a grunt of pain. One figure was kicked and he crushed on her table breaking it into two and sending all her paperwork and books flying around the room. She let out a horrified scream as blood sprayed her on her walls. She was sure someone was now losing the fight; she didn't know whom exactly, her protector or her assailant. More blood spurted out and sprayed across the room, she was sure the person had been struck on the jugular vein. Then she witnessed the final execution, the standing figure drove a sword into the neck of the fallen one and he was no more.

There was a moment of silence in the room as it dawned to Mika she had just witnessed someone being killed brutally.

"Mika! Are you okay?" the standing figure spoke into the darkness, it was Raizo's voice. Mika didn't know if to feel relief or more terror. He took his mask off and was now more visible in the darkness; he crossed over the room to where she was.

"Stay where you are!" she cried hoarsely finding her feet. Raizo stopped, noticing her fear was apparent.

"Who's this guy? Mika demanded shakily.

"His name was Jin" Raizo replied quietly not meeting her eyes.

"He was one of you!" she said accusingly at the same time scanning around for an escape route.

"He was not born an assassin—more are coming, we have to leave" Raizo looked tense like he had just heard something

"Don't—don't come near me, stay where you are!" she picked up a flower vase and aimed it at him.

"Mika, we need to leave now or die" Raizo growled still advancing towards her.

"There's no we Raizo, you're one of then" she said hysterically. Raizo let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed her swiftly before she threw the vase at him. She tried to protest but he closed her mouth and disappeared into the darkness lifting her up with one arm like she was a feather light doll. They stood squashed against a corned outside and Raizo removed his hand to allow her to breathe

"Raiz—"she began but he closed her mouth again.

"I want you to take your shoes off and step where I step do you understand" he commanded in a whisper, Mika looked at him angrily and nodded.

There was knife cutting silence in the car as the car sped down the freeway in full speed. She could see he was upset too just like she was. His jaw was hard and his face almost pale with rage. Mika looked outside the windows and saw the city lights going in a blur past her.

"Dammit Raizo where are you taking me, I need to go to Europol" she burst out cutting the dead silence between them.

"We need to shake them off our trail" he said in a tight voice

"Wait, you thing they are following us?" she said in panic looking backwards.

"I know they are following us, they have our scent"

"You mean like dogs" she frowned,

"No, like wolves" there was no hint of bluff in his tone. Now she understood how he had always found her easily and how they used to bump into each other a lot during their first days. He had always been following her, the thought terrified her.

"So, when exactly where you intending to tell me that you're an assassin?" she noticed he flinched at the word assassin.

"How much do you know about the clans Mika?" he asked instead.

"A lot, considering I have one of them with me" she said bitingly.

"I can explain everything Mika" he said softly.

"What? The fact that you're one of them and you suddenly thought I'm worth saving today or somewhere in the middle? I trusted you, I believed in you, and after everything we've been through you choose to hide this one truth from me" she had angry tears in her eyes.

"I wanted to tell you today" he pointed out.

"Was it after we slept together that you decided "oh maybe I should come clean, this playing house business isn't so bad after all" or when you discovered your buddies where in town and they wanted my ass because you were getting bad at getting the job done?" she yelled.

She noticed they had pulled over into a parking lot with a shopping plaza and he stopped the car.

"You're a size 36, right?" he stated looking her over. He seemed not be affected by her shouting nor did he seem to have heard her.

"What? No, I'm a 34, except certain times of the month' she said self-consciously forgetting her anger for a moment.

"Really, retail therapy at this time of the night? Are you serious? She retorted sarcastically.

"Listen to me very carefully Mika. If you try to run away they will find you and they will kill you. Do you understand me?" there was a pleading look in his eyes yet there was a sense of urgency in his words.

"As if I have a choice" she shrugged, he got out the car and closed the door.

Their next stop was a highway motel tucked into a groove of trees; it was almost easy to pass over if you didn't see the turn off quickly. The receptionist eyed them speculatively with judgemental eyes like they were up to no good. Raizo didn't seem affected by the woman's glance, he remained aloof filling in their fake names and she handed him the keys.

"Ok get undressed and take a shower. Don't use soap or anything just water and you put your clothes in here after you're finished." Raizo ordered her once they got into the dingy looking room and he handed her a refuse bag. Mika folded her arms and remained standing stubbornly in the middle of the room.

"Mika, we have to—"

"No we don't have to do anything, stop it!" she yelled

"Stop ordering me around like I'm some dumb woman Raizo. You lied to me and you've been lying to me all along and now you think you can boss me around and tell me what to do!"

"Okay, you want to know the truth Mika?" he demanded with barely suppressed anger.

"Yes, I'm an assassin. I was raised to be one and I've always been one for as long as I can remember. I know them, I grew up with them, and I ate with them and trained with them. I've killed people without thinking twice, caused harm to some and I didn't feel anything. Are you happy now?" he threw the clothes paper bags on the bed.

"Damn you, stop making it sound like I'm crucifying you here. I had every damn right to know the truth! You owed me that much"

"I am not one of them!" he finished with a defiant look in his eyes.

"And you expect me to believe you" she said incredulously.

"Or you don't want to believe me so you can find it easier to resent me" he challenged.

"How dare you—"she wanted to strike him but he caught her hand mid-air.

"I just didn't want the truth to come between us Mika" he said gently his anger almost gone

"Now it has caught up with us so it has certainly come between us, how could I be so stupid?" she shook her head with tears in her eyes.

"You know what Mika; if you think I'm letting this go then you're mistaken, I'm sorry to kill your hopes" he said determinedly.

"What?"

"Us, you and me" he had a fierce look in his eyes

"I don't even know you Raizo" she said quietly

"This is who I am. I like who I am, when I'm with you. It's who I've always wanted to be" he declared.

"Why did you fight them? Why did you save me?" reason was starting to creep in her head now that she wasn't so clouded by emotions.

"I'm not one of them Mika, I never belonged there. I left them seven years ago" he explained.

"You mean like, you went rogue?"

"Yes, and they are after me too"

"What happened?"

'Let's sit down" he indicated to the bed. Mika sighed and sat down next to him.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: **Thanks for the positive reviews guys. I'm totally loving them :) I enjoyed writing and developing Mika's character particularly in this chapter!

Mika felt the warn shower water flow down her body unknotting her tense muscles. The shower somehow brought about a sense of comfort in her. She was feeling everything at once, fear, compassion, pain and most of all love. She was on the verge of losing a lot. How could life go so wrong in a matter of hours, it was like an avalanche of bad luck had suddenly loosened and fell down on them?

Like Ryan had said, some doors were meant to remain locked forever. Unlocking them only resulted in drastic consequences and chain reactions such as the situation she found herself in. She could probably lose her job, he colleague and mentor Ryan and the love of her life. She wanted to believe in Raizo so much that her heart ached but she also couldn't shove the fact that he hadn't been entirely honest with her under the carpet. She sobbed quietly in the confines of the shower and didn't hear the shower door being opened. She only became aware when the shower was closed. Raizo stood there his clothes partially soaked now and held out a towel for her to walk in.

"It's going to be all right Mika" he wrapped the towel around her and took her in is arms

"I can't—I can't do any of this. I'm so scared Raizo" she wailed her resolve crumbling and she hunched into his arms.

"I'm here Mika, I won't let anything happen to you" he reassured her.

"But they are after you too" she pointed out.

"They are no match for me. I have been waiting for this moment for far too long" he said confidently with a glint in his eyes.

"Just hold me Raizo" he buried her face on his chest.

"Breathe Mika, remember, you heart with mine" he reminded her, she was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Yours is fast now" she said breathlessly

"It's because I'm holding you" he whispered. Mika slid her hand inside his shirt and rested in where his heart was situated. It reminded her of the first time they had shared a bed and just talked. His heart had been beating that fast, and she knew it was for her and it still was. Word lied but hearts didn't. She unbuttoned his shirt and ran both hands over his chest and abdomen feeling the warmth that emanated from his body. It was somehow comforting and couldn't help but want to get lost in it. His fingers intertwined in her wet hair giving her an unexplained sensation. This was neither the time nor place, there was nothing to celebrate or feel good about but feeling his body against hers brought her some comfort. And when they began to kiss it was with a sense of urgency and deep need.

"Are you up for another shower?" he whispered with a husky tone in her ear then he began undressing.

"I'm game ninja guy" she teased with a knowing look then she unwrapped her towel.

"The jeans are a little tight" Mika complained trying to pin up her new jeans.

"You said 34" Raizo reminded her putting on his grey sweater

"Humph. I guess German sizes run a little smaller" she grumbled.

"They suit you" Raizo eyed her derrière in the tight fitting jeans. She blushed then he handed her a phone.

"Call your boss and tell him to meet us and come with the Rihla"

Mika paced up and down the room waiting for Ryan to pick up his phone on the other hand. She hoped he was still alive following the events that were unfolding.

"Goodness! Coretti where are you? Are you alright? I've been to your apartment. The guy on the footage is—"Ryan began.

"Yeah, yeah I know. I'm okay Ryan. Listen do you have the Rihla with you?" she asked impatiently.

"What, no, no. Don't even think about it. I said you're officially off the case. Speaking of which, you're supposed to be out of the country by now"

"Well, there has been shall I say a change of plans." Mika didn't hide the annoyance in her voice.

"There's a mess at your apartment. Who's that dead guy, who killed him? And where are you?" Ryan demanded.

"So many questions Ryan, look we don't have time. We need the Rihla now. Can you meet us at the Old Spandau road?"

"Who's we?"

"Raizo and I. He's the guy on the footage. The guy who saved my life" she emphasized.

"Are you insane? And you trust him? Did you know all along?" Ryan bellowed.

"No, not until today"

"And you kept this from me?"

"Look Ryan, are you going to give us the Rihla or not? Before we resort to other methods of getting it"

"Okay, meet me there in 30 minutes" Ryan said resignedly.

"You sounded a little tough" Raizo teased after she had hung up. He had lighted a cigarette and was blowing the smoke around the room.

"I'm a ninja's girl, no shaking" Mika flexed a barely visible bicep. He grinned and began to circle her with the cigarette smoke now.

"This is for our scent right?" she inquired fanning her hands.

"Yes but it's only a temporary distraction, to delay them" he explained.

"And what's next after we leave with the Rihla?"

"I'm going to find them and end this" Raizo almost growled.

"You said 'you'" she queried.

"I'm getting you on a flight to Dubai. I have everything you need to get settled there"

"No, no, I'm not leaving you Raizo, we're in this together. You go I go" she said in a panic filled voice.

"Mika, you'll only be collateral and you know I can't let that happen right?"

"Why is everyone making all these plans for me as if I don't have a brain, as if I have no say in it? This is my life, I've chosen to do this" she retorted stubbornly.

"Come here" Raizo beckoned to her with his hand. He held out his arms for her and hugged her tightly.

"I meant it when I said I'm not letting this go. I love you Mika, I've always did since I met you and I don't know how to stop now and I don't want to". It was an awkward time to make these declarations just like it had been an awkward time to make love in the shower but it was now or never.

"And that means I have to put your safety before mine" he finished

"I know, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I just know I don't want to be without you in this" she kissed his forehead.

"Let's do this" Raizo said confidently after they drew apart.

"You're stealing a car?" she said incredulously after he opened the door of a parked sedan without any qualms.

"Just borrowing it" he opened the passenger door for her and she got in reluctantly. He took out a curious looking device that resembled a square stopwatch and aimed it at the starts. Within seconds the car had started. Mika looked at him barely hiding her astonishment.

"Ninja school" he stated dryly and Mika couldn't help but laugh. A guy who still managed to keep his cool and joke around in the face of danger was a keeper.

"So how was it? Growing up there?" Mika asked quietly while they drove back to town.

"It was—not easy" he replied reluctantly.

"The um—scars on your back. Were you beaten?" she cringed asking the question. He nodded then spoke

"It's a period of my life I don't like talking about or remembering. Maybe one day I'll tell you everything, just not now" Mika nodded back, she understood. She also had childhood memories she preferred not to talk about, most of those involved her father. She took his free hand in her own and kissed his fingers.

"We'll be fine baby" she whispered.

"Hey" Mika said to Ryan who stood waiting for them at the end of the old tunnel.

"Hey, you're late. I thought you had another 'change of plans'" Ryan studied Raizo who stood aloof on Mika's side.

"Listen, we don't have time. Did you bring the Rihla with you? We need to get going" Mika cut to the chase.

"Wait, you're leaving with him?" Ryan eyed Ryan eyed Raizo suspiciously.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Thanks to him I'm alive" Mika glanced at Raizo; he was tense like he had just seen or sensed something.

"Why have you done this?" he asked Ryan in particular.

"What?" Mika said nervously looking around. She never got an answer, in a blink the whole area was illuminated by floodlights. It almost looked like daytime and armed man emerged from all directions shouting for them not to move.

"People will die" Raizo warned and the armed men tassered him then he fell to the ground then they bound him in cuffs.

"No! Raizo—what the fuck is going on here Ryan?" she demanded as the men led Raizo away into a waiting van.

"I'm just following orders. Let's go Mika, you need to be safe" he led her to another waiting Europol vehicle.


	13. Chapter 13

Mika couldn't hide her disdain as they arrived at the Europol headquarters. She watched Raizo chained to the walls in an interrogation room through a live feed. The room was so bright that there was no hint of any shadow left. She wondered if he was in pain, he looked comfortable and unaffected and his eyes were half closed in a meditation like trance.

"What is this Ryan is it like your own private Guantanamo?" she snarled at Ryan.

"It used to be a safe house, more of a bunker. Look Coretti, there's a dozen warrants of arrest for this guy from London, DC to Osaka"

"Oh how charming. Suddenly there's an arrest warrant for a ninja when one didn't exist a few weeks ago. How does that work? She reasoned with him.

"Mika, you don't want to be involved in this. This guy is dangerous, he's a killer" Ryan warned.

"You got it all wrong; Raizo wants the same thing as us, to destroy the clans"

"That's what he told you, speaking of which I don't even know how you came to associate with him"

"That's what I know!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, remind me about how your impaired judgement works again. Coretti if you want to play the insubordination tango with me not here in front of the kids" Ryan warned then gestured for them to go into an empty office.

"Look Mika, I've been in this business for 20 years and I smell one big fat rat"

"That's what I was trying to tell you"

"I know Mika, but I'm merely following orders. We have to tip toe very carefully here" Ryan half whispered.

"You do realize there's no time right? It won't be long before the rest catch up with us and kill us all"

"I know, I'm just trying to come up with a plan" Ryan rubbed his temples.

"Then you better do it fast before heads start rolling here" Mika exited the office leaving Ryan to rack his brains.

"No one is to see the prisoner agent Coretti" the Europol sniper who was guarding the entrance to the holding cell said to Mika.

"Damn it, I have brought him water. I've just cleared it with Maslow" she rolled her eyes at the guard.

"I'll need to confirm that" the guard insisted.

'I don't have time for this shit, open this door then you can go and confirm. If it's not true you can just come and drag me away"Mika snapped. She was upset and she was not going to hide it, so much had happened this night.

Mika took a deep breath and walked to where Raizo was tied. He still had his eyes half closed.

"Hey" she said with anxiety showing on her face. He slowly opened his eyes and they met hers

"Hey" he replied in a composed voice that betrayed no emotion.

"You looked thirsty" she held up the water bottle.

"I am thirsty" he confirmed with a glum smile. Mika opened the water bottle and aided him to take sips of the cool water.

"I—uh had no idea about any of this" she said with a guilty expression.

"I know" he nodded after drinking half the bottle.

"You do?" Mika asked with relief showing on her face.

"Your heart, it is special. The only time you lied to me today was when you told me you were a size 36" he smirked good naturedly and she blushed self consciously. He always liked it when she blushed in response to something he had said or done. It was one of the best things he had always loved about her. The ability to express herself all the time. He didn't look away from her eyes, for all he knew it could be their last time. Then he looked up as if listening hard for something then he tensed.

"What?" she asked her eye now wide. She now knew better to trust Raizo's instincts.

"They are here" he said gravely.

"Go, Mika, run or hide!" he ordered her in an urgent voice but she showed signs of not having heard him, she exited the room with a determined look on her face.

She burst into Ryan's office already almost knocking him down as they collided at the door.

"Whoa, whoa, what's up Coretti?" Ryan inquired

"Look Ryan, if you do not listen to me now we're all going to die. We have to carry out the plan now"

"Wait, am I missing something here? What's in it for you in all this, why are you so convinced about this guy's innocence?" Mika remained silently stubborn, her expression hostile.

"Oh no, no, no, no, please tell me you did not start dreaming of white picket fences and beautiful babies with this fellow" Ryan said incredulously.

"That's none of your business Ryan" she said in a defiant tone.

"Ok so when you were in the holding room giving him water those gooey stares were the real deal?" Ryan frowned as if trying to piece together a puzzle. Then the lights suddenly went out and the whole place was swallowed in pitch darkness.

"Oh my goodness, they're here Ryan" Mika gasped with terror.

"Maslow here, do you read me secure the prisoner" Ryan spoke into his mouth piece.

"Sir we have a problem, the infra red cameras cannot pick up the intruders"

"Shit, have your guns ready any suspicious movement in the shadows just shoot do you copy?"

"Yes sir" Ryan put on his Kevlar and took out a semi automatic.

"Guns won't help you" Mika said shaking her head and exiting the office.

"Mika! Where are you going? Mika? Ryan called out in the darkness but she had left already.

By the time she arrived at the holding room there was already chaos going on around in the corridors, gunshots and sounds of people being struck. She didn't know which side was losing but she could make a guess.

"You can't get in here we're securing the prisoner" one sniper said adamantly blocking her way through the now open door.

"You know what? Fuck you all if you think you're all going to fight these people, because you can't! Mika said shouted harshly.

"Mika! Get out of here!" Raizo shouted from the room.

"Not without you—aargh!" Mika screamed after the guard just behind her was struck by what seemed to be an object that sailed through the air and pierced his throat. She kneeled down, and removed his keys from the belt trying to block the horrifying fact that she was stealing from a dead man. She began to unlock the web of chains that had been locked on Raizo.

"Mika, hurry they are almost in here" Raizo said impatiently.

"I'm trying, I'm trying" Mika said fumbling with the complicated locks.

"Mika I don't want to sound critical but—"

"Shut up and let me do this Raizo" she unlocked the final lock. Raizo swiftly pushed her to one side and swung the unlocked chain in mid air and Mika heard a katana fall on the ground. Then he dragged a black figure with it and threw him against the wall, Mika heard the unmistakable crushing of a skull. Raizo picked up the fallen man's chain blade and struck him. Blood spurted out and covered the dirty walls. This was the second man he had killed that night and Mika was left in no doubt about whom he was and what he could do.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: **Thank you guys for the positivity, I appreciate it, getting a lot of follows!. You guys rock ;). Hope you enjoy.

"Let's go" Raizo jerked his head to the entrance and took her hand in his. As they made their way in the now eerily silent corridor they stumbled over a dozen of decapitated bodies. There was blood everywhere and some bodies had missing limbs.

"Raizo I think I'm going to be sick" Mika said timidly in the semi darkness.

Raizo held her hair way from her face as she found a corner to wretch on.

"Better now?" he asked handing her a random water bottle he had picked up lying around.

"Yeah just a little" Mika nodded then rinsed her mouth. The continued walking then suddenly Raizo stopped them.

"What?" she whispered with fear.

"Stay where you are, don't move" he whispered then the next moment it was like he had vanished into the darkness. Only to emerge a few feet away from her fighting another ninja who had followed them. Mika stood rooted on the spot as Raizo and the other ninja fought fiercely. She couldn't but admire the way the figures both spun and leapt in the air only to land on ground in full combat. Raizo seemed to have thrown something at the other ninja and fell down on the floor dead.

"Let's get moving" Raizo took her hand again and continued down the corridor with her. Then they arrived on a flight of stairs leading down.

"I want you to find your boss and get the Rihla then you get out of here, do you understand me?' he instructed. Mika nodded glumly thinking that this was it, the parting moment. Over the past few hours she hadn't been separated from Raizo for long, they had always managed to find each other again. Would they find each other this time?

"And you?" Mika asked. She was already dreading the answer.

"They are not going to go away on their own Mika" he sighed. Mika bit her lip and nodded glumly. Raizo looked at her for a moment then he turned and stepped into the sinister darkness.

"Raizo" Mika called out softly. He retreated and turned back to look back at her.

"I love you too" she murmured.

"I know, your heart never lies" he gave a sad smile then he was gone. Mika began to descend down the stairs running in full speed then bumped into Ryan who was also on his way up.

"Mika, thank God you're alive" he said in undisguised happiness, before they could celebrate their reunion a shuriken flew from literary nowhere and struck Ryan in the stomach. He keeled over in pain and took out his gun then shot blindly in the darkness and there was a yell of pain in the darkness, the bullet had found it's mark.

"Ryan, oh my God, you're bleeding, are you okay?" Mika tried to examine his wound.

"Let's just hope they didn't hit my liver. I'm going to need that" he remarked dryly. They were now in the Europol car park then he took out a phone and handed it to her.

"You need to leave now Mika, I need to know you're safe. Here are the keys to my car and this" he handed her a small tracking device.

"You can always activate it once you're safe and we'll come for you" he instructed.

"Thank you Ryan" she hugged him

"Thank me later, now go and leave the big guys to play" Ryan tried joking then he left.

Mika hurled out insults when the car refused to start after numerous times. Why it was at moment like this, things just went haywire and refused to work. She spotted movement in the rear-view mirror; several figures were coming towards her car. With a jolt the car sprang to life and Mika reversed in full speed and hit someone at the back.

"That was for stalking me sucker!" she called out in the car and began to drive out. Several shuriken were thrown at her car from literary nowhere and the glass window began to crack. Mika uttered a curse but she kept on driving. She felt a thud and was sure someone had landed on her rooftop. Her car swerved as she dodged the hilt of a sword that was driven through the roof. She quickly took Ryan's gun that he kept in the glove box and she shot though the roof trying to steady her shaking hands. She pulled the car into a sharp swerve and a body was flung off the roof and landed on the concrete floor.

"And that's for messing with a New Yorker" she called out and smoothly steered the car out of the round-about car park. She was free now.

She took a deep breath and cruised in the freeway but she hadn't gone far when she realized there was a lot of commotion in the road. Cars were swerving and some where hitting against each other. They were obviously trying to avoid something; it was she noticed there was a fierce fight going on in the middle of the road. Two tall dark figures were fighting against one who seemed to be dodging them at the same time fighting back. One of the figures was knocked down by a rushing car and tossed off the road. Only two remained and the other one was obviously injured and losing the fight. She didn't need to think twice as who the lone figure was. Mika negotiated her way between the slowing down cars and got a lot of curses form the people who were also trying to find their way out and were still fascinated with the fight at the same time.

The car skidded and Mika hit the other figure that was standing over Raizo about to execute him. He was tossed in the air and landed off the road.

"And that's for messing with my boyfriend you bastard!" she shouted outside the window and opened automatically the passenger door.

"Get in" she called out to Raizo who was trying to get up. He heaved himself up and stumbled into the car.

"What where you doing here" she asked frantically.

"I was waiting for you" he managed to give her a weak smile then he pulled a shuriken out of his belly and grunted in agony.

"Oh my God, Raizo you're hurt badly" she gasped when she took in the full blast of the cuts in the light of the car. He his stomach was filled with lacerations and surgical wounds, he was bleeding profusely.

"We need to get to a hospital" she chocked accelerating the car into full speed.

"No...just drive, keep on going" he said weakly. He was phasing in and out of consciousness.

"Where, Raizo? You're losing a lot of blood' she wept looking back at his now limb figure. He needed medical attention and he needed it fast. She had to find a doctor quickly, a doctor who specialized in private practice. Someone who would not ask a lot of questions and someone almost impossible to trace.

"How the hell am I supposed to know where to find one" she sobbed alone in the car. She had to make split second decisions or else she was going have one dead man on her hands. She speed dialled for the operator with her free hand and asked for the address of a doctor outside Berlin. It took what seemed like a long while when the operator came back and cited the address and phone number of the doctor.

"Raizo, stay with me, don't you dare leave me. I need you, now more than ever" she chided hysterically. He wasn't responding now, he just lay on the car seat with his head leaning towards the window. She held his hand in hers and begged.

"Just hold on a little longer, I love you Raizo" she was blinded by her tears. It had been a long, fateful night for her and it was far from over. Raizo had suffered too many injuries. It was impossible for one person to fight all those ninjas and walk away unscathed. He was so brave and she was proud of him, now more than ever. To think that she had ever doubted him for at one time was a shortcoming to her. Raizo would die for her if it ever came to that and Mika was more frightened than ever when she realized now she would do the same for him.

When the doctor opened his door Mika was already sobbing uncontrollably.

"Please help me, help us" she said frantically. Her hands were covered in blood and she had torn the hem of her top trying to stop his bleeding along the way. At one point she had pulled over and tried to resuscitate him.

"What happened mam" he asked curiously peering around.

"My boyfriend, he's in the car. He's been seriously wounded and he's pulse is fading" she wept. The doctor followed her to the car, when he saw the sight of Raizo he was taken aback and looked at her darkly.

"My God, where do you think you were going with him? He's barely alive." He said scornfully.

"Are you going to help me carry him inside or not?" Mika snapped. The doctor seemed to deliberate then he stooped down and they helped lift an unconscious Raizo up.

"What happened?" he asked her now taking full sight of shuriken stuck on her car.

"We were attacked" she said meekly. They staggered into the house and Raizo was laid on a bed that the doctor reserved for his patients.

"He's going to need a blood transfusion. He's lost a lot of blood already"

"I can donate it Mika said quickly.

"Are you the same blood type?"

"I'm an O positive, that automatically makes me a universal donor" she countered.

"Let me scrub, your guy is a nasty piece of work. Tell me what did you say happened again?"

"We were attacked" Mika said reluctantly.

"Does this have anything to do with that ninja business that has been making waves?" he pressed on.

"Well um—he's one" Mika finally admitted, there was no point in hiding the truth now.

"No wonder he's still alive, he can you live through this I'm pretty sure"

"What do you mean" Mika's voice quavered with undisguised hope.

"Out of the many remarkable talents of ninjas they have also mastered the ancient art of the body's ability to heal itself" the doctor said with a mystified expression.

"What?" Mika raised an eyebrow.

"It's still mysterious branch of ancient medicine and I've carried out some studies on it—most of it hypothetical though"

Mika looked at Raizo who lay silently on the bed, unmoving; she began to wonder if there was anything he wouldn't do. She now understood why he had kept that part of his life away from her. He had just wanted to live a normal life just like everyone and somehow he had found that balance with her. She held his hand and whispered.

"We'll be fine babe". If they could survive this then they could survive anything that would come their way.


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Sorry guys for the prolonged absence. Have exams going on at the moment. Had already pen-written chapters 15 and 16, was just waiting to get some time to type. Btw thanks for the follows and favouring, means a lot to meJ. As you shall see, in this chapter I've deviated from the movie sequence a little. Hope you enjoy and review! Chapter 16 will be up tomorrow!

Mika sat on the couch having some juice and croissants and she kept peering at the passage way. After she had donated her blood, Dr Jankowitz had told her she needed to have lots of juice to restore her blood volume and stop her from feeling queasy. Not that she was wary of getting queasy; she had seen a lot of blood today and was well on her way to be completely cured of her queasiness.

She felt the fatigue of the last hours catch up with her, she had hardly slept a wink. She had been thrown into a nightmare where decisions had to be made in a split seconds and where she had little to no control of what was unfolding before her eyes. Her thoughts were interrupted when the doctor entered the lounge. Mika looked up at him expectantly;

"He's stable now; his blood pressure is now stable. I had to stitch some of the small blood vessels to stop the bleeding" he explained looking quite exhausted.

"Is he now—"Mika started

"Awake? No, he's still sedated from the anaesthetic; he's more asleep rather than unconscious"

"And the healing thing he does?" she asked curiously.

"He has to be awake to do it, it's a lot like summoning energy from within. Now that needs some strength"

"Okay, thank you" Mika nodded.

"And you, how are you holding up, do you need me to check you up?" he asked giving her a quick inspection.

"No, I'm doing fine, just shock here and there and exhaustion" Mika shook her head.

"You're such a brave woman" the physician remarked with undisguised admiration.

"I guess when you love someone you'll just about go hard for them. You know, you put yourself out there" Mika shrugged.

"There's some paperwork I need to do in my study, if you need me just knock on my door" Jankowitz gestured at the door down the hallway. Mika nodded and watched him go.

She was left to reflect on her statement, just how far was she willing to go for Raizo? Where would she draw the line and say this was it when it came to him? She tried to imagine a situation where she would let him off the hook and tell him he was on his own. As far as her own thoughts stretched, she couldn't come up with such a situation.

She began to wonder how her life would have panned out if she hadn't come to Berlin. At Quantico, she was comfortable; she had a routine and simple life. The good thing was she could walk away from it all and separate her personal feeling from the horrors that sometimes came with her discoveries. But how could she walk away from this now? Walking away meant letting people get away with evil, it meant looking the other way when the clans continued to kidnap other vulnerable orphans and mould them into assassins. It also meant allowing evil to triumph and walking away from Raizo too, something she couldn't do. Just as she was dozing on the couch she remembered they needed to move, find somewhere to hide and reboot. A minute later she was speaking to Dr Jankowitz.

"Is he good to go?" Mika enquired.

"What do you mean good to go?" the doctor frowned at her.

"We need to keep moving" Mika declared.

"Are you serious lady, he has just suffered mortal injuries and you're already thinking of moving him" he replied incredulously.

"I have no choice, the people who are after us won't stop either" she reasoned.

"You can't do this, I can't let you endanger a patient's life" Jankowitz objected.

"Do you think I want this? Look, if you did your homework properly on the ninja then you would know. You can only become collateral if we remain here with you" she pointed out. Fear crossed the doctor's eyes and he seemed reluctant to reply her.

"So, are you going to help us or not?" Mika pressed.

In a few minutes they had formulated a plan. Mika asked him for his extra car and promised to bring it back as soon as they were safe and sound. He became more comfortable when she flashed the Europol badge and he gave her the car then helped her drive the shuriken wrecked car into a nearby river. Next they supported a drugged Raizo and made him comfortable at the back seat. The doctor couldn't hide his disdain at what they were doing, it was clear he was a man who cared very much about his patients.

Mika studied the car's GPS device as she sped down the seemingly abandoned highway. The needed an inconspicuous place where no one would notice them or bother them. She took the country exit hoping to find an inn in the outskirts, here their scent would get lost in the country air. After an hour she found what she was looking for. She lied to the inn keeper that Raizo was drunk and he couldn't walk on his own so they aid him to the room. It was around 3 am when Mika stripped and settled on the couch after giving the whole bed to Raizo that she fell into a much needed sleep.

Raizo opened his eyes into the semi darkness. He felt groggy, like his senses were suppressed and slurred. For a moment he was disoriented about his whereabouts. Then snatches of memory began to come to him. He was sure there were certain periods where he had blacked out because the pain had become too much. But he had held on to the sound of her voice and her heart beat to keep himself from drowning into the blackness.

"Mika" he murmured into the darkness. He could hear her steady heartbeat not far off from where he was and he knew she was here. He had heard her wrecking sobs in the car begging him to hold on for them and he had been powerless to let her know he was going to be okay, he was hanging on and still with her. He moved his hands and intertwined them then tried summoning his Cha, the healing energy. After a short while he panted breathlessly. It was proving difficult as he hadn't yet regained his strength and his senses were almost numbed by the medication. Again he concentrated on the sound of her heartbeat and tried.

He knew they needed to keep moving, Takeshi would never rest until they were dead. He had always wanted Raizo, to pit his power against him. There had always been competition and a mutual dislike between them. There was a time in Raizo's life when he had lived without a sense of purpose, just only for one solitary cause; revenge. He remembered the first time he had laid his eyes on Mika outside his door. Everything about her was purity, warmth and love and he had suddenly found a reason to live for. One had become two till every part of him wanted to live. Once he had seen himself in Mika's eyes he had never wanted to go back. All those positive thoughts had a positive effect on his healing chakra. He began to feel an absolute warm feeling spread inside him. He knew he had suffered critical injuries and it would require maximum concentration and energy but he also knew with Mika by his side he would just about do anything in the world.

An hour later he crept out of the room and went outside to see if he could access a clothes shop nearby. They needed to get rid of their old bloodied clothes and the strong anti-bacterial scent that came with it.

Mika leaned her face into a very familiar touch and somehow it gave her a sense of warmth and safety. Then it dawned to her that she wasn't dreaming; someone was indeed touching her face and stroking her hair. She opened her eyes and they met with Raizo's. He was gazing at her with an unfathomable, intense expression on his handsome face now with overnight growth. She looked back at him not knowing what to say until it dawned to her he was supposed to be in bed recovering yet he was there now looking like he had taken a shower and he had a change of clothes.

"Raizo, what—"she didn't finish that sentence because he had scooped her up into a tight hug muffling her voice. Mika was glad to be back in those strong arms once again.

"Are you okay?" he asked framing her face in his hands then he kissed her forehead.

"Yes, I—uh should be asking you that" she untangled herself from him and took a good look at him. She lifted the hem of his t-shirt to inspect him. Where lacerations had cut deep into his skin was now marked by reddish angry welts that resembled bruises and nothing else. Jankowitz had told her about the ninjas' ability to heal themselves but this was not what she had in mind. It was like the skin had closed on its own and swallowed the wounds with it. She looked back at him and there was undisguised fear and surprise in her eyes.

"You healed yourself" she half whispered in disbelief. Raizo nodded grimly.

"It's called Kuji-in, the ancient art of the nine finger cuts made by the ninja. Each cut represents a different energy. The healing energy is called Cha, it's for healing oneself and sometimes others" he tried to explain.

"So it works just like that, you just make finger symbols and you're healed?"

Raizo shook his head "It's not that simple Mika, you need balance and concentration. It takes a long time to master; you have to be in touch with your inner self first and foremost"

"And the other cuts?" she asked in a tiny voice.

Raizo intertwined his fingers aligning the small fingers together "This is called the Toh, for harmony with the universe. And this..." he changed the finger alignment "is called kai, for premonition and danger. This is called jin, knowing the thoughts of others, this is zai, for the four elements of nature—"

"Wait, wait, so you mean you can do all those things?" she said sceptically.

"It's not magic Mika; it's a lifestyle, an art. You have to become a part of it then it becomes a part of you. Like I said, it's all about balance, within yourself, the universe, nature and others. All in harmony"

"So you know what I'm thinking right now?" she sounded wary. Raizo chuckled and touched her cheek.

"No one can ever discern anyone's thoughts baby. You just feel them because of the vibes the person gives out. And right now you're a little scared. I'm not a supernatural being Mika, it's never an easy lifestyle. You discipline everything including emotions and you of all people know that it's not good for anyone" he looked into her eyes and she nodded and she noted he had just called her 'baby'

"So are you okay now?" she asked with concern. Mika stepped on the carpet and stood up to stretch. The couch wasn't as comfortable as she had envisioned and she felt a little stiff now. Before she took another step Raizo stood up too and pulled her arm and spun her back to him. There was an intense look in his eyes, the same look she had seen on his face when she had woken up.

"Yes, thanks to you. I heard everything" he replied still looking into her eyes.

"Did you?" she whispered back.

"I'll always hear your voice Mika, anywhere" he tipped up her chin and he lowered his head down and brought her face up to his. He began to stroke her face giving her subtle kisses all over.

Mika smiled and thought a few hours ago this moment would have seemed so impossible but now here they were alive and more hopeful than ever. The danger was far from over but to stop enjoying a moment because of fear was no living. He gently rubbed her lips with his thump and drew her closer to him with his other free hand. She wondered when exactly Raizo had turned from the modest guy to an expert seducer and right now she just wanted his lips on hers already. Mika took Raizo's face in her hands and began kissing him with such vigour that echoed her deep want and his response matched hers. He scooped Mika in his arms and wrapped her legs around him heading back to the couch when a knock sounded on the door. It took a while before they drew apart and he let her down.

"Damn it, its room service" he muttered his voice still husky. He ran a hand in his hair muttering an oath in his vernacular and went to answer the door.

"I think we'll have to bookmark this, what do you say to a rain check?" Mika asked with a smile when he came back into the room with a tray laden with food.

"I'd say that sounds exceptional "he grinned at her.

"So what's the plan? What's next? She then asked reality dawning on her yet again.

"We're leaving soon after you eat and take a shower"

"To?"

"I—uh came up with a plan" Raizo said self-consciously. Mika knew that look on his face and she gave him a slight frown.

"Something tells me I'm not going to like this" she murmured.

"Why don't you go take a shower and we can talk in the car" Raizo changed the subject.


End file.
